Everton vs Liverpool: Why this crunch Merseyside derby matters far more than most

When it comes to discussions around Premier League history that the last time either club had the chance to dent the other’s title bid in the second half of the season was 22 years ago

It is the Merseyside derby where a draw for Everton might just feel like a victory. It is the Merseyside derby where anything but a win for Liverpool will feel like a defeat.

One manager believes the other is in a “World Cup final” and that comment seemed to jar with Marco Silva, who reminded Jurgen Klopp that a win for him last time “through a lucky goal” was celebrated with all the enthusiasm of Marco Tardelli.

Intriguingly, though it might feel like Silva has less to lose, on a personal level he probably has more because of what has happened to Everton since Divock Origi capitalised on Jordan Pickford’s mistake in December.

It says much about the relevance of Merseyside that when it comes to discussions around Premier League history that the last time either club had the chance to dent the other’s title bid in the second half of the season was 22 years ago when a 1-1 draw stopped Liverpool going joint top with Manchester United, the rival they would lose to at Anfield the following weekend.

This had been an outcome that moved Everton into twelfth position; one which came amidst an eleven-year period when Liverpool were unable to win at all at Goodison Park, a venue where they were often outmuscled – which certainly hasn’t been the case for the last nine seasons.

That pattern only changed in 2001 when Gary McAllister’s 30-yard free kick in injury-time raced up off the turf and past Paul Gerrard – proving (as it did in December when Liverpool proceeded to win the next seven games, thus supplanting Manchester City at the top of the table) just how significant a fixture this can be in terms of momentum.

Before McAllister’s intervention, Liverpool had stumbled in their previous fixtures. A draw at Ipswich and a defeat at home to Leeds left them fifth but what happened at Everton gave Gerard Houllier’s side belief and by winning eight of the last nine matches, finished the campaign having secured a cup treble as well as Champions League football for the first time since it ceased to be the European Cup.

Everton’s 18 game winless run against Liverpool since 2010 represents the longest in their history and yet, Liverpool have won only twice at Goodison since their last loss under Roy Hodgson who in describing the 2-0 defeat as “the best performance so far” revealed a lot about what Everton were up against.

Goodison has nevertheless become a place where Liverpool tend to draw, an outcome which is surely less likely if they start fast like they did against Watford and take the lead – especially with Everton form suffering since defeat at Anfield. In their seven subsequent home league games, indeed, Everton have won only once, though long-term patterns should also invite concern because Everton have come from behind to prevail in just one derby since the war. On that night, in 1992, the winning goal was scored by a former Liverpool player in Peter Beardsley.

While Silva, as well as Klopp, batted back suggestions that the past plays a major role in the present, Klopp did admit that Everton’s record makes Silva’s team-talk more straightforward than his. "It is much easier to motivate them and say, ‘come on boys, it’s time. It’s our moment,'” he said having vowed that he will not celebrate like he did last time should Liverpool get the result they want, reasoning, “what happened that day was very surprising.”

Both he and Silva, of course, were referring to Origi’s winner in the 96th minute. Klopp believed the timing of the goal helped Liverpool over the next month. “Goals can change a season I am not sure, but the moment for sure,” he said. “It changed the mood, of course, the confidence, of course. It was a very important one, 100 per-cent. That day and the games afterwards, it was unbelievable what the boys did. It created all our situations, really.”

Divock Origi scored the winner earlier this season (Getty)

Though Silva has beaten Liverpool with Hull, he is a newcomer to these occasions. Klopp, meanwhile, is unbeaten in Merseyside derbies since arriving in England in 2015. At Melwood, he would speak about his understanding of what a win for Liverpool might mean. He had been seven years at Mainz where Eintracht Frankfurt became the rival and then seven years at Borussia Dortmund, facing Schalke

“When I came to Dortmund the first three games were Cottbus, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke,” he remembered. “Nobody spoke about the other teams. You have to learn. It’s not my enemy. How could it be? Schalke was not my enemy when I left Dortmund. But I understood 100 per-cent what it means to the people because I had my derby when I was 10 years old and played against the village next to us. We went to the same school and the next bus. You want to win that game so desperately. That’s sport. I understand that but I don’t live that.

“If I see an Evertonian in a blue shirt I don’t think, ‘Oh, you…whatever…’ It’s a free world and you can decide who to support for whatever reason. In the games, I know that we are the ones who have to do it for the people. They cannot win in the office, this game. We have to do it on the pitch.”