Head to Head

This is the 91st meeting between the sides at Anfield in the league and the 182nd in total.  Only Everton v Aston Villa (189 matches) has been played on more occasions in English league history.

The clubs have faced each other in all competitions on 212 previous occasions, the highest number of matches between two sides in English football. We trail 83-65 in terms of victories on the head-to-head record 

Everton’s overall league record against Liverpool is:

Six days later was the most recent meeting between the teams on Liverpool's turf - a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup with Joleon Lescott scoring for the Toffees before Steven Gerrard equalised.   

The Toffees’ last win at Anfield was in September 1999, when Kevin Campbell’s strike was enough for a 1-0 victory. Since then 10 visits have brought six draws and four defeats – although the home side have won only five of the last 16 meetings on the ground.

Everton have won more league matches at Anfield as the visiting team than any other club. The Toffees’ 23 victories are one more than Arsenal and Manchester United.

In the Premier League

In the Premier League Everton’s derby match record is:

All of our eight wins in the Premier League have been in the first derby of the season – we have not won the ‘return’ derby since Wayne Clarke’s winner at Goodison in March 1988. The last time Everton won the return derby match at Anfield was our 2-0 win in February 1986.

The managers

The managers have met on 13 occasions, with David Moyes emerging victorious three times. Only Harry Catterick and Bill Shankly (25 games) have been in the opposing dugout in derby matches in more matches.

Saturday is David Moyes’ 600th match as a manager since being appointed boss of Preston in January 1998. His consolidated record is:

There have been 10 hat-tricks – four for Everton and six for Liverpool – in all matches between the teams, the most recent for the Blues being Dixie Dean in September 1931 at Anfield.

The last Liverpool treble was Ian Rush’s (4 goals) at Goodison in November 1982. The last hat-trick we conceded at Anfield was Fred Howe’s four goals in September 1935.

Tim Cahill requires one more goal to become Everton’s leading scorer in post-war league derby matches. The most goals scored by Everton players in post-war league derby matches are as follows:

Roy Vernon   4
Graeme Sharp 4
Duncan Ferguson 4
Tim Cahill  4

The record in all post-war derbies for Everton is the seven netted by Graeme Sharp (4 in the league, 2 in the FA Cup, 1 in the Screen Sport Super Cup)

If he scores on Saturday the Australian international will become only the second Everton player to net in four Anfield derby matches. Dixie Dean scored in five Anfield derby matches, while Scottish forward Bobby Parker also scored in three successive Anfield derbies either side of World War I.   

The Australian’s last eight league goals have remarkably all been headers, the sequence starting with his late equaliser at Anfield last season.  

The Blues’ star and Steven Gerrard are joint-second on the list of most goals in Premier League derby matches:

Robbie Fowler  6
Tim Cahill  4
Duncan Ferguson 4
Steven Gerrard 4
Michael Owen  4

Louis Saha has one career goal against Liverpool, for Fulham in 2003 – the Frenchman has scored 99 league goals in England.

Current Liverpool players’ goals against Everton (all competitions): Steven Gerrard 5, Fernando Torres 3, Dirk Kuyt 3.

The players

The 23 players sent-off in the fixture constitute a record for domestic football. The most recent Everton dismissal is Tim Cahill at Goodison last season while the last from the Anfield side was Lucas Leiva at Goodison in the FA Cup in February 2009.

The two respective club captains, Phil Neville – who was on the winning side for Manchester United at Anfield on six occasions - and Steven Gerrard, are the only players sent off twice in derby games.

John Heitinga has already been on the winning side at Anfield once this season – for Atletico Madrid in a pre-season friendly in August.

Leighton Baines requires one more appearance to reach 100 for the Blues in all competitions.

Any Other Business

There have been 38 penalties in derby matches, 15 have been awarded to Everton (4 missed) and 23 to Liverpool (4 missed).

We have been awarded just one spot-kick in the last 57 Anfield derby matches going back to 1937, which was converted by Wayne Clarke in December 1988.

There have been eight penalties in Premier League derby matches – two for Everton (both converted by David Unsworth) and six for Liverpool (one missed by Robbie Fowler).

Everton have not lost in nine league matches, and on only two previous occasions we have travelled to Anfield with the same unbeaten record – in March 1970 and February 1986 – where the Toffees won 2-0.  Our best unbeaten league run going into a derby match was 13 matches in October 1978.

If Everton avoid defeat we will equal our longest unbeaten run in the Premier League of 10 matches set in September 2006, and it will mean a double-figure run of league games without defeat for only the second time since 1988.

Liverpool and Everton currently have one thing in common – both sides have won their last three home league matches 2-0.