3 Up, 3 Down: featuring Liverpool and Manchester City stars

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Down: Ramiro Funes Mori

Ramiro Funes Mori was not the only reason that Everton got battered in the Merseyside Derby, but his red card did not help matters.

His diabolical lunge on Divock Origi, which saw the Liverpool striker stretchered off summed up an evening of frustration and laziness from the Everton centre-back. Unable to deal with the quick feet and movement of Liverpool’s front four, he lashed out and was rightly sent off.

He will now be suspended for Everton’s cup semi-final against Manchester United. A stupid decision that could cost his team in the long run.

Down: Georginio Wijnaldum

It was very surprising when Newcastle, who have been stranded in the bottom half of the table for some time, managed to sign Holland international and PSV captain Georginio Wijnaldum for a relatively small fee this summer, and for the most part, he has proved to be an excellent signing.

When things were slightly rosier for the Magpies, Wijnaldum was at the heart of everything they did, but in their recent struggles has ceased to have any tangible influence on games. Being dropped for a game as big as Manchester City at home suggests that Benitez doesn’t feel his star man really has the stomach for the battle.

If they are to stay up, they could do with a fighting Wijnaldum. A player of his quality could make all the difference.

Down: Watford & Crystal Palace

It has been a season of two halves for both of these sides, and the FA Cup has been the only salvation for a wretched second half of the season.

When they walk out at Wembley to face each other this weekend, both sides will be coming off the back of a series of bad results. Watford have recorded just three Premier League wins since the turn of 2016. Palace have just a solitary one victory.

The midweek games were a chance for both sides to carry some momentum into their Wembley meeting, but merely resulted in more misery for the fans of each team. With this poor form in mind, success in the semi-final will be increasingly critical for each side in order to gain some confidence for next campaign.

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