Should Brendan Rodgers Alter Liverpool's Two-Man Attack in Derby vs. Everton?

Liverpool fans have seen their team play with a range of formations of late, with the 3-5-2 switching the midfield shape in several games before a return to a fluid 4-4-2 against Fulham.

The constant in all these matches has been partnering centre-forwards Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge together in a two-man attack, but could that come to a brief end against Everton at the weekend?

In the longer term, of course, the preference will be for the Reds to pair the two leading goalscorers of the Premier League together whenever possible, but Brendan Rodgers has already shown a willingness to be tactically flexible when necessary, and in a one-off situation, the Merseyside derby might well call for that.

Aside from much of the squad having been away for the past week or so, Liverpool's front duo—so important to the team and the system with their movement and final-third ability—will have had particularly tough times of it.

Daniel Sturridge played out the full 90 minutes of England's 1-0 loss to Germany on Tuesday evening.

While little travel was involved, Sturridge was one of the few to play the whole game and did not look entirely sharp for the match. While on the one hand it should be considered that playing more minutes could help him recover that sharpness, Rodgers will need to carefully assess his fitness levels before deciding if the striker can realistically feature at full capacity in a no-doubt gruelling derby match.

Suarez, meanwhile, has embarked on a mini tour of the world in the past week, travelling first to Jordan for the first leg of the World Cup inter-continental play-off, and then back to his native Uruguay for the second leg. This game will not finish until the early hours of Thursday morning, after which he will have to be flown back to the UK—by Liverpool owner John Henry's private jet, according to David Maddock of Mirror Football.

All told, Suarez will likely not arrive back to Liverpool until late on Thursday, giving him only Friday to recover and recuperate, with the derby against Everton taking place early on Saturday morning as usual.

Even with his renowned reserves of stamina and willingness to leave every ounce of effort on the pitch, it would be no surprise to see him slightly below his usual level for the match.

As such, away from home and against formidable opponents, mentally as much as anything else, it could well be for the best that Rodgers opts to change things around a little.

With Fabio Borini out on loan and Iago Aspas injured, the Reds don't have any other forwards to turn to other than Suarez and Sturridge.

They do, however, have Philippe Coutinho.

The Brazilian is not involved with his international side at present, so he will have enjoyed another opportunity to recover completely from his recent injury and should be raring to go following a full 90-minute performance against Fulham.

While he was afforded the entire pitch to roam in against the Cottagers, it will be more difficult to allow him that licence against Everton and for the team to still remain tactically strong—so Rodgers should consider putting him in the No. 10 role, behind one of the forwards, and slotting in another player to the flank.

Essentially, this would bring Liverpool back to the 4-2-3-1 / 4-2-1-3 which was used so predominantly at the end of last season.

With Steven Gerrard and Lucas, if both return from international duty free of injury, in the midfield, the Reds would likely keep Jordan Henderson on the right side, leaving the likes of Raheem Sterling or Luis Alberto to fight over the left-wing slot—though the more likely option would be Victor Moses.

Moses played regularly after joining on loan, before the altered shape of the team saw him relegated to the bench. The Nigerian will be fine for action at the weekend, with his international break ending earlier than usual Monday against Italy.

Moses, Coutinho and Henderson provide a good mix of athleticism, power, technique and creativity that should serve the Reds well against Everton—and, importantly, should provide plenty of service for the front man.

The smart money would be on Suarez starting over Sturridge if only one were picked.

Suarez is in exceptional goalscoring form, the harder worker and the more ferocious lone forward—all qualities that are important in a derby.

Sturridge, brought on later in the game, would add pace and power, also allowing the Reds to switch formations again if necessary—or perhaps replacing one of the three behind the forward to keep the same shape.

Going forward, pairing Suarez and Sturridge together seems to be a good bet for Liverpool to win matches more often than not. But it's not always simply about putting the best players on the pitch; rather the ones that are most capable of winning the game.

On this occasion, in this game in particular, that could mean leaving one of the deadly duo out from the start.

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