Match Summary

Andy van der Meyde: Cameo all too brief...

As expected, no unenforced changes for Everton's winning team, but the bad news was that Arteta misses this one through injury. 

The match started with Gerrard & Beattie wearing 08 in recognition of Liverpool, City of Culture, and neither team really exerting any dominance although Osman in particular was lively.  McFadden fed Cahill off a good Beattie knock-down and he spun to shoot but Alonso crucially blocked his shot. 

McFadden again fed Cahill, who went wide and fired a great shot into the side netting, going for early glory. 

Osman then fed Beattie but his run was a fraction too early for what would have been a nice opening goal.  Then the fun started, and it was Cahill who first went into Phil Dowd's book for one of his trademark clumsy tackles.

Kilbane was then hacked down by Alonso, but Phil Dowd booked Gerrard for innocuously kicking the ball away,  Off the free kick, Gerrard decided to scythe the legs from under Kilbane, earning a second yellow, and a red for the Liverpool captain, much to the Everton fans' delight.

But Everton struggled to really take advantage of Liverpool's disarray, with free-kicks and far too many weak long throws from Philip Neville doing nothing to threaten the Liverpool goal.

Alonso was next in the book for a high kick on Neville, as Everton pumped balls into the Liverpool area, but without much reward.  Meanwhile, Garcia and Kewell had long-range pops on Wright's goal.  It was spicy, but there was little end product to speak of.

Stubbs, who was having a tough time marking Crouch, was lectured by  Mr Dowd for 20 seconds after talking out of turn.  On the free kick, both Kewell and Stubbs were booked for barging each other like a pair of stupid kids over possession of the penalty spot.

Osman was having a fine time dancing around the Liverpool defenders but Kilbane crashed to the ground after being felled by a deliberate elbow from Luis Garcia.  Red Card?  NO! Unbelievably, Dowd decided this was okay!!!   Everton were getting no more favours from the officials, with Riise deliberately holding off McFadden for clear obstruction; nothing given.

As Everton looking to have held the initiative into the break, a couple of corners led to absolute disaster.  With no real threat, Neville headed strongly passed an incredulous Richard Wright into the Everton net.

It got no better as the second half started, Naysmith went to sleep, allowing Garcia to dance past him and lob the advancing Wright with ease.  So much for a one-man advantage.

Kilbane was next in the book for a clumsy and unnecessary challenge on Alonso as Liverpool pressed the Everton defence despite their now unnoticeable lack of manpower.  On the hour, David Moyes decided that perhaps some changes were in order, as Everton finally won their first corner on hour, and it finally brought some pressure Reina. 

Tim Cahill then stole a goal back in characteristic style off the second corner, jumping well to nod the ball down inside the post.  No subs needed, then: Davies and Van der Meyde put their tracksuits back on.

Weir was next in the book for lunging at Sissoko; Alonso grazed the woodwork with the ensuing free-kick.  Finally, the changes were rung, and Wright had to make a good save as Kewell danced around Weir, the game suddenly more open and flowing since Ferguson and Van der Meyde came on.  But, almost immediately, Andy van der Meyde was sent off — for supposedly raising his arm in Kewell's face.  What a crazy game! 

And it degenerated into the Dowd Card Game from there on. Next: Ferguson, carded for a totally stupid and uncalled-for push in the back of Alonso.  Then, Liverpool got the ball in the net for a third time off a long Hypia free-kick but it was rather surprisingly ruled out for offside, with Carragher perhaps off-sighting Wright.

Van der Meyde's dismissal had shocked and stunned Everton, who were looking bereft of ideas in the final 15 minutes and Kewell was able to swing his foot with no opposition whatsoever, and he powered a strong drive well past Wright.

To add insult to injury, Neville became the sixth Everton player in Phil Dowd's little book, and earned Everton a mandatory fine in the process.  Garcia nearly got another thanks to a dreadful gift from Naysmith but Wright was down quickly to save.  And as if that wasn't enough, Hibbert was booked in added time for dissent.

So a terrible derby in the end for Everton, the same scoreline as at Goodison, Liverpool first team to do the double over Everton this season.

Michael Kenrick

Match Preview

With the exception of Nigel Martyn and Li Tie, who are both out for the rest of the season, David Moyes is closer than ever to having a full squad of senior players to choose from for what promises to be a good derby game with the rabble across Stanley Park.  Mikel Arteta, arguably our most important player by a long way, remains doubtful.

But David Moyes is unlikely to change a winning team — a possible exception being Nuno Valente, who may be fit enough for the left-back slot, where Naysmith did reasonably well last week.  If not, will we see the return of Alessandro Pistone?  Probably a little too soon still for him. 

A key indicator of Everton's intent will be to see the retention of the James Gang in attack.  Beattie and McFadden are finally starting to click and, while they are not exactly playing together as a true pair of strikers, at least it has the appearance of 4-4-2 rather than the defensive 4-5-1 formation, or variants thereof.

So the main activity from David Moyes is likely to come from the bench.  And again, the winning team theme held him back from making unnecessary strategic changes in the last games — perhaps Moyes had learnt from the Fulham game how disruptive his substitutions could be?  Yet with Duncan Ferguson available once again and his transgressions all but forgotten, you have to expect that he will be given one last chance to humiliate Sami Hypia, and perhaps end his Everton career on a high with another goal against the Reds. 

And somehow, sometime, Moyes must be expected to give more playing time to Andy van der Meyde.  Hopefully, the Dutch lad is now fully fit, but he has hardly had much chance to regain match sharpness.  Then there is Lee Carsley, who has the kind of midfield tenacity we need in a derby game.  A regular now in the Reserves, he could not get on the bench last week. 

And what of Simon Davies?  Has there been a single game this season where he has really impressed? And it would not be unreasonable to point out that Davies, who was first choice in the team through that horrible autumn spell, has hardly figured since the New Year.

As one of our enterprising readers demonstrated, Everton are currently in a fine run of form, with the best performance of any team, bar none, since the turn of the year.  And in the last few games, that rare but vital commodity seems to have returned: GOALS! Two at West Ham; three against Fulham; and four past Villa... Keep 'em coming!  Yet Liverpool have outshone us in the goals department, notching up 15 in their last three games.  Are we in for a goalfest?  Doubtful... 

Michael Kenrick

Matchday Stats

This will be the 203rd derby match between Everton and Liverpool in all competitions and the 174th League meeting between the teams.  This will also be the 92nd meeting at Anfield and the 87th League meeting there.

Everton's full record against Liverpool is:

Everton’s record away to Liverpool is:

The last meeting between the clubs was earlier this season when Liverpool won 3-1 at Goodison Park with James Beattie getting Everton’s goal.  The last meeting at Anfield was towards the end of last season when Liverpool won 2-1, with Tim Cahill netting for Everton.

The most common Everton victory over Liverpool is 1-0, which has happened 19 times in Everton’s 63 victories.  Liverpool’s most common victory is 3-1, which has happened 19 times in their 78 victories.  The most common draw between the sides is 0-0, which has happened 31 times in the 61 draws between the sides.

There have been 4 hat-tricks against Liverpool.  Bill Dean was the last player to score a hat-trick on 19 September 1931 in a 3-1 victory at Anfield.  In fact, 3 of the 4 hat-tricks against Liverpool have been scored at Anfield.  The only player to register a hat-trick at Goodison Park was Sandy Young, who got 4 goals in a 5-2 victory on 1 April 1904.

Everton's record for 25 March is:

This is the first time the clubs have met on this day.  Everton’s last match on this day was in 1993, when Matt Jackson, Staurt Barlow and Tony Cottee scored in a 3-0 win over Ipswich Town.  The last away match was in 1979, when Everton drew 0-0 at Derby County.

Jack Page was born on this day in 1886 in Liverpool.  After signing on an apprenticeship in 1913, Jack made just 10 appearances in a war-curtailed Everton career before moving on to Cardiff City in 1919.

Stan Davies was born on this day in 1898 in Chirk.  Signed from Preston North End in 1920, Stan made just 22 appearances for Everton and scored 10 goals, before he signed for West Bromwich Albion in 1921.

Sandy Brown was born on this day in 1939 in Grangemouth.  Ironically, Sandy’s most infamous moment in an Everton shirt came in the 1969-70 Goodison Park derby when he launched himself at the ball to score a great goal – unfortunately in his own net!  Signed from Partick Thistle in 1963, Sandy made 253 appearances for Everton and scored 11 goals (in the right end!) before he moved on to Shrewsbury Town in 1970.

Jim Pearson was born on this day in 1953 in Falkirk.  Jim signed for Everton from St. Johnstone in 1974 and scored 19 goals in 116 appearances before being sold to Newcastle United in 1977.

Kevin Ratcliffe was in the Welsh team that drew 1-1 with Spain on this day in 1982 in an International Friendly.

Thomas Gravesen was in the Danish team that won 5-0 at Malta on this day in 2001.  On the same day Thomas Myhre was in goal for Norway in their 3-2 defeat against Poland, whilst David Weir was in the Scottish side that drew 2-2 with Belgium.  Mark Pembridge also played on this day in 2001, in Wales’ 2-2 draw with Armenia.

Nick Barmby played for England u21 on this day in 1998, in their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Switzerland.

Milestones that can be reached this game:

·          If he starts, then James McFadden will be making his 50th start for the club in all competitions.

·          If either team scores a goal, then Everton will extend the current club record for the most consecutive matches without a goalless draw in the Premier League to 51 matches.  The current record of 50 matches is the longest current run without a goalless draw by any team in the Premier League.

Steve Flanagan

Everton surrender precious advantage

The Merseyside derby has always been a mixed bag of emotions. You await them in anticipation of what could be but any optimism is usually tempered by the fear that the Blues will get comprehensively beaten no matter what form they're in going into the game. The standard of football rarely reaches the heights you'd expect from the occasion, referees find it impossible not to upstage everyone with headline-making decisions, and usually composed players reserve this fixture for moments entirely out of their character. And, with one Lee Carsley-inspired victory apart, the derby has in recent years been a painful experience for Evertonians.

No real surprise then that Everton surrendered the advantage gained by Steven Gerrard's 20th-minute red card with an own goal, that another poor Richard Wright decision would give away another goal and that match official Phil Dowd levelled the playing field personnel-wise when he flashed a straight red card at substitute Andy van der Meyde for a seeminglyunintentional elbow with the score at 2-1 with 15 minutes to go. It was another all-Mersey clash to forget.

As expected, Mikel Arteta, the lifeblood of Everton's recent run of excellent form, was absent through injury and without him David Moyes's side struggled to for regular creativity. It was left to Leon Osman and Kevin Kilbane to lead the charge in that respect but even when the Blues had the numerical advantage, they often found themselves crowded out having beaten a man or two.

With Nigel Martyn out for the season, Moyes clearly feels that Wright's experience outweighs his erraticism so the ex-Arsenal man continued in goal, while Gary Naysmith once again lined up at left back in Nuno Valente's absence. James McFadden and James Beattie partnered each other in attack.

While not as frenetic or tenaciously contested as usual, the game started in scrappy fashion, with the home crowd baying for an early penalty when Beattie's awkward challenge caught Sami Hyppia in the box, but the referee waved play on.

Then, Tim Cahill had a chance at the other end when he swivelled to connect with a loose ball but he didn't make clean contact and it was easily gathered by Reyna in the Liverpool goal. Three minutes later, the Australian blasted a right-footer into the side-netting from a tight angle with the 'keeper diving to cover his near post and a minute after that terrific footwork by Osman created an opening for Beattie but he was correctly flagged offside as he raced onto the throughball.

Everton were the more composed of the two sides in the opening third of the match, with Liverpool regularly being pulled up for niggly fouls. The home faithful were becoming frustrated with referee Dowd's decision-making but he was largely accurate. And he applied the letter of the law in the 17th minute when Gerrard kicked the ball away after Xabi Alonso was pulled up for the kind of foul that would have earned a swift yellow card in the second period.

When Gerrard chopped Kilbane down near the area in the 18th minute there was little option but to show the England international a second yellow — and consequent red — card. Anfield was incensed while the sizeable and vocal away contingent were left wondering whether or not this would be a good or bad thing for Everton. As it turned out, it wasn't the advantage it should have been.

Alonso collected the booking he had been courting after 22 minutes, Garcia fired just over from distance and Kilbane looped a header over the bar before Alan Stubbs and Harry Kewell were both shown unnecessary yellow cards for jostling in the box.

Then, in first-half stoppage time, a second-successive corner was swung in from the Liverpool right, Neville threw his head it it and diverted it straight past Wright. 1-0 Liverpool and numerical advantage squandered.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the Reds had doubled their advantage within two minutes of the restart. Garcia raced onto a throughball and, for reasons presumably known only to himself, Wright advanced off his line and into no-man's land giving the Spaniard all the space he needed to easily lob the ball over him and into the empty net.

The match was fast running away from Everton and Moyes responded on the hour mark when Duncan Ferguson, Van der Meyde and Simon Davies all stripped off in preparation to join the fray. They all sat down again and donned tracksuit tops again, though, when Tim Cahill attacked a second-successive corner from the left and his downward header found the inside of the far post to make it 2-1.

After David Weir was booked for scything down Mohamed Sissoko and Alonso had clipped the bar with a direct free kick, Moyes made two of those three planned changes, removing the ineffective McFadden for Ferguson and Kilbane for Van der Meyde. It was Liverpool, however, who remained the more likely to add to the scoresheet when Kewell flicked the ball past Weir and forced a decent save from Wright with a powerful drive.

Van der Meyde had only been on the field for six minutes when he jumped for a ball and caught his marker with his elbow. At no point had the Dutchman taken his eye off the ball nor displayed any intent but the referee pulled out the red and the Blues were also down to ten men. Beattie was incredulous, Moyes stunned. Ferguson did what he does best: exact revenge and get a senseless booking with a blatant, late shove in the back of an opponent.

Back at the Everton end, Hyppia headed home a 78th-minute free kick but his celebrations were cut short when Peter was flagged for offside. But with six minutes to go, Liverpool's two-goal lead was restored when Kewell, the player many Blues have ridiculed for years, unleashed a perfect left-footer that swerved past Wright's outstretched arms and into the top corner — his second goal against Everton this season.

Unable to make much impact on the Liverpool's goal, Moyes's side merely added to the yellow card count and earned a mandatory FA fine in the process. Neville was booked, somewhat harshly, for a foul on Garcia and Hibbert also made his way into the referee's notebook for something that wasn't quite clear.

And that was that; another derby defeat by the increasingly familiar scoreline of 1-3. If truth be told, Everton never really looked like winning the game even during the 55 minutes they played with an extra man. Reyna was barely called upon to make a decent save and with Arteta out and Van der Meyde restricted to a six-minute cameo, there was precious little creativity beyond the twinkling toes of Leon Osman.

Beattie and McFadden were left to feed mostly on scraps and the fact that the Blues' goal came from a set-piece was not a surprise given this pattern. That is not to say that Moyes's side played particularly badly; indeed, for the first 20-odd minutes they were the more coherent and more assured of the two sides. There just wasn't much to show for it in clear chances created and not much of the magic that was so much in evidence in the games against West Ham, Fulham and Aston Villa. And if fortune favoured Rafa Benitez's charges for the first goal, Liverpool displayed their superiority in class with their second and third goals.

Thankfully, the trip to Chelsea aside, that is the last really daunting fixture out of the way. It's a shame that the Blues suffered another comprehensive reverse and that Liverpool being the only team to do the double over us thus far will sting in the coming week of torment and mocking by the Red half of the city, but we have seven games left in which to push on for a European place, something that was inconceivable the after the last derby.

Lyndon Lloyd

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