By David 
Alright mates, let me walk you through my absolute obsession this past week – getting those Everton and Liverpool starting lineups before anyone else, especially with the big derby coming up. I was sick of finding out five minutes before kickoff like everyone else. Total mission started last Monday.
The Starting Point: Why Even Bother?
Woke up last Monday proper annoyed. Seen tons of “lineup predictions” online before games, but half the time they were just random guesses based on who wasn’t injured. Total lottery. Needed something solid, something that gave me a real edge for the derby. Felt like getting info early shouldn’t be this hard, yeah?
The Wild Goose Chase
First instinct? Check Twitter. Figured managers or official accounts drop hints, right? Wrong.
- Searching Everton & Liverpool official feeds: Scrolled for ages. Found announcements about charity events, kit launches, player birthdays… sweet FA about formations. Getting nada.
- Hunting Fan Forums & Reddit: Fell down rabbit holes. Threads like “My Dream Lineup vs. Them Lot”. Pure fantasy football stuff. Then someone mentioned leaks “close to the training ground.” Spent hours chasing whispers. Got nothing except frustration and a load of fake accounts trying to sell me knock-off shirts. Seriously.
- Trying Stats Websites: These sites show previous lineups, injuries… maybe they predict? Visited a few big ones. Saw “Predicted Lineups” sections! Got excited… clicked… realized it was just journalists listing who might play. Same guesses I could make looking at injury lists myself. Zero insider knowledge. Felt mugged off.
Hit Wednesday feeling like I’d walked into a brick wall. Fake lineup leaks kept trolling me. Standard prediction sites felt useless. Needed a new angle.
The “Huh, Maybe?” Moment
Thursday morning, mid-coffee. Remembered how annoying those betting apps are, constantly pushing odds and “special boosts”. But… they need their teams spot on for live betting markets, right? They HAVE to be quick. Maybe too quick?
Installed one of the big football apps again (used it ages ago for scores). Scrolled past the ads screaming “Bet £10 Get £30!” – pure noise. Found the section where they list upcoming matches, clicked the Everton vs. Liverpool preview. Buried deep under injury news and head-to-head stats… there it was: “Expected Lineups.” Showed formations too! 4-4-2 for Everton, 4-3-3 for Liverpool. Looked plausible based on recent games.
Thing is, this was like, Thursday afternoon. The game wasn’t till the weekend. Way earlier than any official news would drop. Too easy? Skepticism kicked in hard.
The Stress Test
Couldn’t trust it straight off. Needed proof.
- Strategy: Focused on the next few days. Wrote down the predicted lineups for Everton and Liverpool from that one app. Then checked the squads midweek games – see if those lineups made sense. Fit okay with who was fit.
- Checkpoint 1 (Morning Before Game): Checked the app early Saturday. Predicted lineup hadn’t changed. Looked at a completely different football news site – theirs had appeared now, formation was the same 4-4-2 & 4-3-3. Hmm.
- Checkpoint 2 (1 Hour Before KO – Official Announcement): Refreshed Everton’s Twitter feed like a madman. Boom! There’s the team sheet graphic. Compared it:
- Everton Formation: App predicted 4-4-2. Actual: 4-4-2.
- Liverpool Formation: App predicted 4-3-3. Actual: 4-3-3.
- Players: Got 10 out of 11 starters right for both teams! One sub was different in the Everton lineup (Richarlison instead of this other guy the app had), but the core starters and the formation? Bang on the money.
The Verdict (So Far…)
Honestly chuffed. Found a way to get the expected lineup, including the likely formation, a good day or two BEFORE the game kicks off. Seems those betting-focused apps need to get their expected teams out super early to attract bets. They rely on inside sources? Complex algorithms? Honestly, don’t care how they do it. If it works, I’m using it.
Massive caveat though – it’s still a prediction. Not the official sheet. But that app was far closer, far earlier, than anything else I’ve found. Now I feel like I’ve got a head start on everyone else scrambling at 4:44pm on a Saturday. Tested it once successfully, derby worked. Need to try this trick again this weekend. Fingers crossed it wasn’t a fluke!
