The City of Liverpool prepares for the Merseyside Derby

Article by Emma Rhodes

Tuesday 28th January will see Everton FC travel to Anfield as they face Liverpool FC in the Premier League for the most anticipated game of the footballing season... The Merseyside Derby!

Follow e-Liverpool on Twitter
Follow e-Everton on Twitter

This is the longest running derby, attracting huge audiences from all over the UK as the city is segmented into the red and blue section. The friendly derby does see families and friends sat together during the game. The Merseyside derby has incurred more red cards than any other game in the Premier League (20 to date) showing that all players from both teams are equally as passionate about this fixture and you can virtually guarantee there to be fireworks at some point.

Bill Shankly famously said "If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd draw the curtains", demonstrates the rivalry between the two sides. Liverpool have scored 304 goals in the Derby and 53 of these have come during the Premier League era whilst Everton have scored 252 derby goals with 39 in the Premier League.

One of the better recent Merseyside derbies actually took place in April 2012 in an FA Cup semi-final which represented the first Merseyside Derby at the new Wembley stadium, but unfortunately for the Blues, Liverpool went on to win.

Skipper Steven Gerrard is the highest scoring current player for Liverpool and Suarez has 5 goals, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho both have 1 goal each. The highest derby goal scorer for Liverpool is the notorious Ian Rush who poached 25 derby goals.

Everton currently have Romelu Lukaku (who has scored 2 goals recently) and Osman, Distin, Naismith and Mirallas, who both have 1 each.

The latest Merseyside Derby was played on 23 November, which ended in a 3-3 draw and was considered one of the better Merseyside Derby's of recent times as fans watched the match anxiously.

There are injuries for both managers to consider in preparation for Tuesdays game. Liverpool’s defence is looking slightly bare with seemingly no new signings and Everton watched on as Bryan Oviedo suffered a double leg fracture on Saturday.

Fingers crossed this Merseyside derby is just as exciting as expected!

© e-Football 2013 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football