In one of English football’s most iconic fixtures, Liverpool face Everton in the latest instalment of the Merseyside derby this weekend.
The two bitter rivals have met 50 times before in the Premier League, incurring an unfortunate record of red cards during that time, but can those previous encounters tell us anything about how Sunday’s clash at Anfield will unfold?
As we celebrate its 25th anniversary this season, Football FanCast look back at the history of the Merseyside derby throughout the Premier League era…
Head-to-Head
We often say form goes out of the window when it comes to local derbies, but that really hasn’t been the case between Liverpool and Everton throughout the Premier League era. In fact, the Reds have claimed more than twice the number of wins as the Toffees while scoring 25 more goals, but perhaps most worryingly for Sunday’s visitors, they haven’t actually beaten Liverpool in the Premier League since 2010.
Their last top flight victory at Anfield, meanwhile, was all the way back in 1999 when Kevin Campbell scored a fourth-minute winner. Perhaps the statistic that stands out most, however, is the sheer number of red cards – 21 from 50 encounters in the Premier League. That’s the most of any top flight fixture during the last 25 years.
Top Scorer – Steven Gerrard
Perhaps unsurprisingly considering Liverpool’s aforementioned dominance in this fixture, the top scorer chart is mostly filled with former Reds – the only exception being Everton’s iconic goalscoring midfielder Tim Cahill.
He scored five goals in twelve Premier League outings against Liverpool – only Aston Villa and Manchester City conceded more top flight goals from the Aussie during his time in England.
And that theme of local rivals being the club Merseysiders have most commonly scored against is a recurring one; Dirk Kuyt’s five goals was a personal best of his Premier League career, while only Villa conceded more top flight goals from Steven Gerrard and only three clubs (Villa included once again) conceded more goals from Robbie Fowler.
The Shared Hero – Nick Barmby
While hero doesn’t feel like an appropriate term for any player who crosses such a bitter rivalry, Nick Barmby stands out as a rarity of the Premier League era, simply because he enjoyed prolonged spells with both sides – and is just one of 31 players to ever move directly between both clubs.
No doubt, Barmby’s Everton tenure was far more successful, making over 100 appearances in the top flight and forcing his way into the England squad during that time.
But two seasons at Liverpool, in which the attacking midfielder struggled to produce his best form, did deliver the only trophy of Barmby’s career as part of the UEFA Cup-winning squad in 2000/01.
A Modern Classic – Everton 3-3 Liverpool (2013)
For a fixture so often reduced to little more than a street fight on grass, this 3-3 during the 2013/14 campaign provided a welcome break from the norm, perhaps because Everton and Liverpool enjoyed amongst their most glorious seasons of the Premier League era – finishing fifth and second respectively – and employed their most offensively-idealistic managers of the Premier League era in Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers.
Both prided themselves on possession-based attacking football but ironically, five of the six goals in November 2013 came from set pieces. While Luis Suarez scored directly from a free kick, Philippe Coutinho, Kevin Mirallas, Romelu Lukaku and finally Daniel Sturridge all converted either first or second balls from dead deliveries into the box.
The only exception was Lukaku’s first goal of the afternoon – a mistake from Simon Mignolet followed by some snappy play from Everton in Liverpool’s box allowed the Belgian to stab home at close range. The shares were spoiled and both clubs went on to enjoy arguably their greatest seasons in the Premier League.
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