Roberto Martinez: 'Everton not favourites for Merseyside derby'

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has said that it does not matter which team are considered favourites to win the Merseyside derby on Sunday afternoon.

With Everton holding a one-point advantage over Liverpool in the Premier League table, they have been rated as the marginal favourites by the majority of bookmakers.

However, while insisting that a favourites tag is irrelevant, Martinez feels that Liverpool should be perceived as having the better chance of success at Goodison Park because of the amount of money that they have spent in recent years.

The 42-year-old told reporters: "I don't think being favourites matters a lot, it's about what happens in the 90 minutes and what we can create as an atmosphere at Goodison.

"If you're looking at the amount of money Liverpool have spent in the past few seasons, they have to be favourites but I don't think we can take too much into the game.

"It's a very important game because we're coming from an away win, but we know it's a derby and it does not matter what kind of form you're in."

Everton have gone 10 matches without winning a Merseyside derby, with their last triumph coming in October 2010.