EVERTON and Liverpool went into Sunday’s Merseyside derby as clubs in the midst of a something close to a crisis – and I think the game reflected that.

There was a real fear in the air and it made for a nervy game in which whoever got the first goal was always likely to emerge victorious.

But it also contained signs that both clubs can emerge from it and resurrect their seasons.

Liverpool, of course, badly needed a win to get their Premier League campaign back on track but they don’t need to just look at how they played, but how others around them are faring too.

The fact of the matter is, amidst all this doom and gloom, the media packs from London coming up to hunt for Rafael Benitez’s head, the exits form the Carling Cup, Champions League and, it’s fairly safe to say, the title race, nobody has actually managed to capitalise.

We have to work on the basis now that qualifying for the Champions League will be Liverpool’s chief aim and I think they have to be favourites to preserve their top four status.

In fact, the best price I got against that the other day was 11-10 so that tells you everything.

Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa have all showed signs that they are ready to pounce on Liverpool’s poor form. But despite the fact that Benitez’s team have been dropping points left, right and centre, they’re still in fifth and very well placed to claw back their place in the Champions League elite.

Tottenham are flaky when you get at them, Villa are a good counter-attacking team but sides have worked out how to play against them and City just don’t have that balance – or indeed an ability to close out a game for victory.

And none of those sides have one of the best strikers in the world to come back from injury.