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Merseyside Derby betting: A Gerrard goal and plenty of bookings on the cards

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Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco tells us why good neighbours don't always become good friends as Liverpool and Everton clash with Champions League football next season up for grabs

Not getting along with your neighbours is hardly something novel or original. Homer Simpson/Ned Flanders on Evergreen Terrace in Springfield, the Mangels/Robinsons on Ramsay Street, Erinsborough and of course Tom and Jerry have all been at it. The latter duo are a bit debatable seeing as they were neighbours within the same house as opposed to living in separate residences but I decided to include them anyway. And if the first episode of the new series of Desperate Housewives is anything to go by, the newest resident on Wysteria Lane is about to ruffle a few feathers and Bree in particular seems pretty "cheesed" off by her arrival.

Everton and Liverpool are another set of neighbours who haven't always seen eye-to-eye over the years and Sunday's match is about more than just bragging rights this time round: a Liverpool win and its' probably game over as far as Everton's chances of finishing fourth in the league (it's [4.5] that the Toffees do just that at the moment, [1.25] on Liverpool), an Everton win and it's probably evens the pair all of a sudden.

A lot has been made of the absence of Javier Mascherano for this match after the Argentinean was sent off for what must go down as one of the most mindless dismissals of the season. Suffice to say I'm a big believer in players knowing as much about the man with the whistle as they do about their opponents. Had Mascherano done his homework properly, he would have known that Steve Bennett has never tolerated any sort of dissent from anyone over the years so why should Sunday's match have been any different? Liverpool will miss the little Argentinean terrier to an extent but Xabi Alonso or even the young Brazilian starlet Lucas are more than capable of playing that holding role.

As far as Everton's absentees go, I've said before that I feel that when Tim Cahill isn't scoring goals he contributes very little to the side and having been through a goal drought (before picking up the injury that will rule him out for the rest of the season) he won't be any more sorely missed by the blue side of Liverpool than Mascherano will for the red. Andy Johnson on the other hand, will be a huge loss if he misses the match through injury as expected as Everton aren't exactly blessed with raw pace throughout the side.

The [1.8] on Liverpool looks a fair price given that they're at home and possess a fantastic record at home over the last few years in this fixture, it's [5.5] the Everton win and [3.65] the draw. But I'd look beyond the match odds market for better options.

Everton have plenty of goals throughout the team in Yakubu in particular and the likes of Arteta, Osman and of course Joleon Lescott whilst Liverpool's defence is yet to recover from the loss of Daniel Agger earlier on in the season, as demonstrated on Sunday against the league leaders. A lay of Liverpool to keep a clean sheet at [2.4]6 would therefore be my starting point as far as the betting on this match goes.

Steven Gerrard has scored 19 goals in all competitions this season and is a player who knows the importance of putting in an eye-catching display in front of your fans against your arch rivals when you're the team captain. Add into the equation the fact that he may well play almost as a second striker behind Torres and that he's on penalty duty these days and a price of around [3.2] on the man they call Stevie G looks a decent bet. On the Everton side, the [9.8] on Leon Osman is probably the value bet of the prices on offer. The little winger has scored six so far this season and has grown in stature as David Moyes has shown ever-increasing confidence in him - Sunday could be the day he makes it seven.

Tomorrow's referee Howard Webb averages 3.2 yellow cards per match. There's been an emphasis on not letting players get away with anything since the Eduardo incident and the "Colegate" affair (where the Chelsea left-back showed dissent towards Mike Riley) which has led to referees being a little more card-happy at the moment than earlier on in the season. Add to that the fact that this is the small matter of the Merseyside Derby and I think that buying the bookings at around 60 on the bookings index has more upside than downside.

It's a shame that Mascherano won't be around to pick up another couple of silly bookings but with the likes of Jamie Carragher, Gerrard, Phil Neville and Lee Carsley around, I'd be very surprised if at worst you didn't break even on this bet. Hopefully these four will get stuck into their opponents, just as I expect Bree to get stuck into her new neighbour who continues to insist that Bree cuts down her pride and joy of a pine tree that's apparently blocking the light and preventing her from growing her award-winning roses. I suspect it's not the last we'll hear of this.