Everton vs Liverpool is never meaningless, but this derby is stuffed with more significance than ever. Quite apart from being the last meeting between the two sides at Goodison Park, a win for Arne Slot’s outfit would represent a major stride toward the title — and the predictions of Jamie Carragher and Duncan Ferguson have one thing in common.
Mathematically, of course, this game is no bigger for Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes than any other match. But after a storm delayed Slot’s first taste of the derby, the fixture took on the added psychological significance of being the “game in hand”.
After tonight, Liverpool and Arsenal can be assessed on an even footing for the first time in months (barring the odd few hours here and there). A win against Everton would leave the gap at nine points, with just 14 games left to play.
But there’s every reason to expect this to be an extraordinarily tough assignment. Liverpool arrives with fresh legs, having sacrificed any distant hopes of the quadruple with a weak team against Plymouth in the FA Cup, but it takes on an Everton side full of confidence.
Winning three league games in a row since David Moyes returned, the Toffees have moved clear of any relegation worries. But that won’t reduce the motivation to get a result, with the thought of losing the last ever Goodison derby no doubt an intolerable one.
Everton legend Ferguson has backed his old team to get a result. He believes the atmosphere will play a significant role:
“I fancy Everton to win,” he told Carragher in a Telegraph interview. “They can do it if they set the tempo, put them under pressure, get on top of them, get the fans involved and defend for their lives.
“One of the defenders will have to be man of the match, but then they can nick it. An inswinging corner on top of the keeper and a headed goal would do, wouldn’t it?
“There is nothing wrong with winning a game like that. Everton can’t win the derby passing Liverpool off the park, can they!”
Carragher, for his part, refrained from picking a result. But he agreed with Ferguson that the Goodison Park crowd will have a part to play, in what will be a brand new test for Slot.
“For me, it is the ultimate test of Arne Slot’s new “calmer Liverpool”,” he wrote. “They have dealt with many challenges this season, but an evening game at Goodison Park is something else.”
Responsibility will fall on the senior players to ensure that cool heads prevail. Virgil van Dijk, returning to the scene of a horror challenge that would have ended a lesser professional’s top-level career, will need to lead by example as captain.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who knows the rivalry better than anyone, is still touch and go when it comes to fitness. But he, Van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah all have the added element of knowing this could be their last trip to face Everton, with their contract situations ongoing.
So narratives are certainly not in short supply. And Carragher and Ferguson are surely right that the atmosphere will have its part to play — it’s a case of who can handle the emotion of the occasion best, and a win for Liverpool would be a real statement that it has the mentality to go the distance.
