Sunday sees Liverpool at Everton and the Merseyside derby—and there could hardly be a more vital one for the Reds. Here are the best stats ahead of kick-off.
Century up at Goodison
In all competitions, this will be the 233rd meeting of the teams, with the Reds leading the battle with 93 wins to 66, with 73 draws.
This match will be the 100th league meeting at Goodison Park and the 200th Merseyside derby in league football. It is the most-played derby in English league football.
Liverpool have won 77 of the previous 199 in the league with the Blues recording 57 victories.
Back in December, the sides met as Anfield hosted its 100th league Merseyside derby.
It was decided in the 96th when Divock Origi headed in after Virgil van Dijk‘s speculative strike had come back off the top of the crossbar.
We might as well be home
Liverpool have won as many Merseyside derbies at Goodison as Everton have: 40 each in all competitions in 113 encounters.
Should the Reds win on Sunday they will equal Everton‘s tally of 34 league derby victories at the ground.
Liverpool have scored 119 goals in league derbies at Goodison—two fewer than the Blues themselves.
The Reds have lost three of the last 38 meetings in the Premier League home and away, all at Goodison, and are unbeaten in the last 16 either side of Stanley Park.
That 16-game run without defeat constitutes a record between the clubs. That sequence extends to 16 clashes in all competitions.
Liverpool have not lost in seven league visits. If they avoid defeat today they will set a club record of eight unbeaten in succession at Goodison. The record of seven, between 1913-22, they equalled last season.
Hat-trick heroes
The only Reds player to score a hat-trick in a league derby at Goodison is Ian Rush. He scored four in a 5-0 win in November 1982.
Dixie Dean is the last Everton player to score three in a game against Liverpool, hitting all his side’s goals in a 3-1 win at Anfield in September 1931.
The only hat-trick by a Blue at Goodison in this fixture came from Sandy Young in a 5-2 win in April 1904.
The last hat-trick in a derby came from Steven Gerrard who scored all three in a 3-0 home win in March 2012.
Red mist
27 players have been sent off in Merseyside derby history, nine from Liverpool and 18 Everton players. Only five players had been dismissed in the first 88 years of combat.
The last four Liverpool red cards in league matches have come in games they have gone on to win.
21 of those red cards have come in the 53 Premier League meetings between the clubs with 12 men being dismissed in the last 28 clashes.
However only one player has been sent off in the last 16 league and cup encounters: Ramiro Funes Mori at Anfield in April 2016.
The last Reds player dismissed at Goodison in a league derby was Igor Biscan in April 2001, although Lucas was dismissed in a FA Cup tie in 2009. The only other Liverpool player to be red carded in a league game at Everton was Robbie Fowler in 1997.
Liverpool’s last red card in the fixture was issued to Sotirios Kyrgiakos at Anfield in 2010.
Keep it up Kloppo
Jurgen Klopp is unbeaten in seven derby clashes with the Blues in all competitions, winning five and drawing two.
Where are the goals coming from?
Daniel Sturridge, with four, has netted most goals against Everton in a Merseyside derby than any other current Reds player. Next on the list is Divock Origi with three.
Virgil van Dijk scored on his Liverpool debut, an 84th-minute winner, against Everton in last season’s FA Cup tie.
Xherdan Shaqiri‘s first goals in English football came against Everton; he scored twice in Stoke’s 4-3 win at Goodison in December 2015.
Roberto Firmino has yet to score against Everton in seven league and cup appearances.
Sadio Mane could play the 150th Premier League game of his career, if selected.
He is two goals short of recording 50 for Liverpool in all competitions. He has found the net in all bar one of the Reds’ last six league games, scoring six goals in that time.
Mo’s final chance for a Premier League record
Mo Salah is one goal away from scoring 50 in the league for Liverpool in fewer games than any other player in the club’s history.
This is his 65th game and the record is currently held by Fernando Torres (72 matches).
The Premier League record for reaching 50 in fewest games for a single club is 66 matches, held by Alan Shearer while he was with Blackburn.
Salah has gone three games since his last goal, in the 3-0 home win over Bournemouth a month ago.
Shut-outs
Liverpool’s next clean sheet will see them equal their tally for the whole of last season in the league (17). They have kept four in a row in all competitions. The last time they extended the run to a fifth game was in December 2006.
The last time they kept four in a row in the same league campaign was the final four games of the 2016-17 season.
Divock broke the Blues
Since conceding the 96th-minute goal at Anfield four months ago, the Blues have accrued 14 points from a possible 42, winning four of 14 league games.
Since beating Cardiff at the end of November, the Blues have won one of the last seven at Goodison and have been beaten in four of the last five on home soil in the top flight.
In their last four home league games they have scored three times in total.
Everton are yet to win a Premier League match this season when conceding the first goal, drawing two and losing 10 of 12 games.
The Blues have lost five of their last seven matches in all competitions and nine of the last 14.
Scorers this season
Liverpool: Salah 20, Mane 15, Firmino 11, Milner 5, Shaqiri 6, Sturridge 4, Origi 3, Van Dijk 3, Wijnaldum 2, Alexander-Arnold 1, Fabinho 1, Lovren 1, Matip 1, own goals 2.
Everton: Sigurdsson 12, Richarlison 11, Calvert-Lewin 7, Walcott 4, Digne 3, Tosun 3, Andre Gomes 1, Bernard 1, Coleman 1, Keane 1, Lookman 1, Mina 1, Zouma 1.
* All statistics courtesy of Liverpool statistician Ged Rea (@ged0407).
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