Merseyside Derby: Liverpool and Everton’s recent shared history
There’s always so much on the line when fierce Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton do battle. 3 points are at stake, as are the bragging rights in the city, and now both clubs have their own set of unique issues, making a win against the old enemy compulsory. Phil Jagielka’s unlikely screamer, a feast of red cards and much more have formed abiding memories of this special fixture down the years.
Will Everton give Liverpool a dose of the Monday blues this time around?
A curious string of 0-0s
Although this clash will be contested at Anfield, it’s astonishing to note just how tight things have been between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park. 4 of the last 6 league meetings at Everton’s home ground have ended 0-0, another ended 2-2 and Liverpool won the other match in that sample. Liverpool have dominated this fixture at Anfield, although the teams have 1 win apiece in the last 2 EPL Merseyside Derby clashes at their illustrious home.
Everton’s chequered record at Anfield
Their overall EPL record at the home of their fierce rivals reads W3 D12 L15. Not great. However, their most recent win at Anfield came as recently as February 2021. It was their first EPL win on this section of enemy turf since 1999, though their fans were unable to experience it in the stadium due to COVID.
It’s rare to represent both Liverpool and Everton
A quick glance at the players who have represented both of these great Merseyside clubs illustrates just how bold a move it is to cross this particular divide. The likes of Abel Xavier, Nick Barmby, David Burrows and Sander Westerveld are hardly household names for the modern football lover and perhaps Peter Beardsley is the highest profile footballer to have played on the red and blue halves of Merseyside.
Rafael Benitez found out last season how difficult it is to be accepted by both sets of fans. However, that didn’t put Liverpool academy graduate Conor Coady off joining Everton on loan for this campaign, or celebrating when he thought he’d given his new side the lead against the Reds in September.
Classic clash: Everton 1-2 Liverpool (2007)
Chaos prevailed when a bizarre Sami Hyypia own goal put Everton 1-0 up at Goodison, only for Tony Hibbert to see red after fouling Steven Gerrard in the box. Dirk Kuyt made no mistake from the spot, and he scored his second penalty in stoppage time when Phil Neville got his marching orders for a handball on the line.
Red mist and red cards
The Merseyside Derby has seen 22 EPL red cards, with 2 of those collected by Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard. No other EPL fixture has seen more. In December 2005, 2 Everton players saw red with Mikel Arteta (now the Arsenal boss, do you feel old yet?) and Phil Neville dismissed at Goodison in a 1-3 defeat for the Toffees.
If they are to get anything from their visit to Anfield this time, Sean Dyche’s men will need to keep their cool. His Burnley side were, somewhat surprisingly, 1 of the cleanest teams in the EPL during his stint there, going 100 league games without a red and never having a player dismissed at Turf Moor in the top-flight.
Late Merseyside drama
This derby has produced more 90th-minute winning goals than any other H2H in the EPL, with all of these being scored by Liverpool – Ronny Rosenthal (1993), Gary McAllister (2001), Dirk Kuyt (2007), Sadio Mané (2016) and Divock Origi (2018).
What can we expect on Monday?
Liverpool have been in freefall
The Reds have lost 3 of their last 4 EPL matches, drawing the other 0-0 with Chelsea. In that sample of 4 games, they’ve scored just 1 goal. A lack of cutting edge is just not something you’d associate with Liverpool but they’re really struggling. They shipped 3 goals in 3 successive away league games for the first time since November and December 1993.
They’ve collected just 1 point from 12 this calendar year. After facing a revitalised Everton in this derby clash, the Reds travel to Newcastle before 2 meetings with Real Madrid and a battle with the fast-improving Manchester United. When is the turning point going to come?
A crumb of comfort for Klopp is a return to training for key duo Virgil van Dijk and Diogo Jota.
Sean Dyche needs to get the Toffees out of a sticky situation
The newly-appointed Everton boss guided his side to an impressive win over league leaders Arsenal in his first game at the helm.
New manager bounce is a very real thing, and it was evident in their display at Goodison against the Gunners. Everton looked hungrier, stronger and quicker to every second ball. Crucially, they were just so compact. Compactness and organisation are hallmarks of any Sean Dyche team and that’s how they’ll surely be setting up at Anfield.
Everton were on a dreadful winless run of 10 games across all competitions prior to this huge win over Arsenal (their longest such streak since 1994). The streak included 8 defeats and, curiously, draws against champions Man City and overachieving Fulham. If you extend that sample to 14 games before the Arsenal win, Everton’s only 3-point haul was against Crystal Palace in October.
Another huge scalp here over the old enemy would potentially lift the Toffees out of the relegation zone, depending on other results at the weekend. It would also close the gap between them and Liverpool to just 8 points.
Dyche knows how to keep teams up
At the height of his time as Burnley boss, Dyche kept the Clarets up fairly comfortably on 5 straight occasions between 2016 and 2021 with arguably much fewer resources at his disposal than he has now at Everton. The Toffees have been a permanent member of England’s top-flight since 1954 and Dyche’s mandate will be to extend their stay at England’s top table by another year.
Corners could be key
“Off the top of my head, 27-30% of goals are scored from set pieces, so we think, why would you not use that as an option – a chance to score?” Dyche once said in his time at Burnley. It’s fitting, then, that the first goal of his Everton reign came via James Tarkowski’s head. How about Liverpool’s record in that regard? Since 2016/17, only Man City and the Reds have scored more EPL goals from corners than Dyche’s Burnley and Everton (40).
Current mood
Both sides have collected 4 points from a possible 15 in their last 5 games, but they arrive to this contest in contrasting moods. This Merseyside Derby is a game that neither set of supporters can stomach losing. Right now, it’s also a contest that neither manager can afford to end up on the wrong side of, for numerous complex and not so complex reasons.