Few would have bet at the start of the season that come Sunday’s Merseyside derby Everton would be higher than Liverpool in the Premier League standings.Everton had just committed what appeared to be soccer hara-kiri by selling prize asset Wayne Rooney to Manchester United while Liverpool were relishing a bright new dawn under Rafael Benitez.With Denmark’s Thomas Gravesen at the hub, however, David Moyes’s Everton side began to realise their potential and have retained fourth place since the combative midfielder’s departure for Real Madrid in January.At Anfield, Benitez’s team have blown hot and cold, reaching the League Cup final and Champions League quarter-finals but falling way short in the Premier League, albeit after a string of serious injuries to key players. Liverpool are in danger of losing out to their city rivals for the prized fourth Champions League berth next season.Evertonare fourth on 51 points, seven ahead of the fifth-placed Anfield team with nine games to go. Benitez has shrugged off links with Real Madrid and pledged his future to Liverpool but pointed out that building a team takes time.“We have tried to be consistent in our defence and sometimes that means you lose some of the attacking threat,” the Spaniard said on Thursday.“The right balance is something we are looking for. We now want to be more aggressive in our attacking play,” he told reporters. (Reuters)
