Merseyside Rivals: Situations Facing Everton and Liverpool

Rafa Benitez might just be thanking his lucky stars this week.

With the shock appointment of former England manager Kevin Keegan to St. James' Park, some of the scrutiny and media attention drifted away from the red half of Merseyside leading up to Liverpool's Monday night encounter with Aston Villa. 

Following the alleged attempt by American Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to sign former Germany manager Jurgen Klinsmann in November, one could bet that the pressure might have gotten to Benitez and his underachieving squad.

He certainly wasn't afraid to admit it.

"You cannot say that things off the pitch do not affect people, it is really difficult. It has been going on for a couple of months, and all you hear on TV, radio and see in the papers is this situation," said a frustrated Benitez.

As Bleacher Report's own Sheikh Zakaria pointed out in his recent article, fourth place just isn't good enough to satisfy the fans at the Kop. Seeing rival clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal coming away with England's most prestigious title on a yearly basis can leave a bitter taste in any Liverpool supporter's mouth.

While Benitez did end up winning the UEFA Champions League in his first year at Anfield, one could argue that the '04-'05 Liverpool team was built by talented French manager Gerard Houllier during his reign.

Since then, Benitez has brought the Reds of Merseyside to a Champions League Final and a FA Cup title, but the Spanish manager has fallen short of domestic league expectations by failing to win the prestigious league title during his tenure as manager.

After all, going on lavish spending sprees on quality players, such as Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid), Andriy Voronin (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Alvaro Arbeloa (Deportivo) and Ryan Babel (Ajax), should bring any club better results.

Unfortunately for the Anfield faithful, they might just have to wait another year before they make another run for the League title. 

Amid the controversy and speculation on the red half of Liverpool, their heated rivals at Goodison Park have been turning heads for their stellar and consistent play so far this season. Possessing high fitness levels and work rates, Everton are looking more and more like a formidable threat in domestic and continental competitions.

Thanks to the hard work and commitment put in by long-time manager, Evertonians have something to smile about when taking a look at their current squad heading into the stretch run of the Premier League season.

Boasting an impressive record in the transfer market, Moyes has slowly built up an impressive squad that now has view of claiming a Champions League spot. Claiming the likes of Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott and Joseph Yobo for relatively cheap prices by Premier League standards, the future for the Toffees' look brighter than ever. 

While Moyes has played down talk of his Everton side snapping up a Champions League berth for next season, one has to think that finishing fourth in the Premier League is one of the club's targets.

One of the players brought in to help strengthen Everton's bid for a spot is Manuel Fernandes, on loan from Valencia. In spite of his recent legal troubles over in Valencia, Moyes wasn't hesitanting to bring in the young Portuguese sensation. Blessed with wonderful creative ability, Fernandes adds some much needed to flair to a talented squad.

Heading into the next few crucial months, both Benitez and Moyes will be jockeying for the final Champions League spot. The next Merseyside Derby at Anfield could end up being crucial when deciding league positions.

Since the league title seems all but a formality for Liverpool fans, it will be interesting to see whether or not Liverpool can hold off Everton, or any other challenger for that matter.