In the pick of the fixtures from a full round of midweek Premier League action, Liverpool entertain Everton in the second Merseyside derby season – barely six weeks after the first.
Liverpool can take another big step towards the title with victory at Anfield, but Everton are in good nick under David Moyes, having lost just one of their last 10 games in all competitions.
Can the visitors capitalise on any hangover from their arch-rivals Carabao Cup defeat last time out, or will Arne Slot’s Reds be back to their best? Here’s our pick of the stats to preview this crunch clash.
Still fortress Anfield
Liverpool tend to win at home, especially when the game takes place on a weekday. The Reds are unbeaten in 17 such Premier League matches, winning 16 of them – and they’ve not lost at Anfield in the league on a Wednesday since a 1-0 defeat to Wolves in December 2010, during Roy Hodgson’s ill-fated tenure.
Nottingham Forest are still the only visiting side to win at Anfield inside 90 minutes this term – PSG won on penalties in the Champions League – and that 1-0 reverse remains Liverpool’s sole Premier League loss under Arne Slot.
Travel-weary Reds?
Premier League players headed off all over the world to represent their respective countries during the international break, and Liverpool racked up considerably more air miles than Everton.
Looking at the players who started the two teams’ last games – Liverpool’s 2-1 Carabao Cup final defeat to Newcastle and Everton’s 1-1 Premier League draw with West Ham – (with the exception of Caoimhin Kelleher, who was Liverpool’s ‘cup’ goalkeeper over Alisson) we can see that the Reds travelled an average of 6,459 miles, compared to their local rivals’ 3,477.
Will the hosts’ be hamstrung by their stars’ latest round of globetrotting on Wednesday night…?
Moyes’ Anfield hoodoo
Having salvaged a point from the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in dramatic fashion, courtesy of James Tarkowski’s goal deep into stoppage time, Everton will look to do something they never managed during David Moyes’ first spell in charge: beat Liverpool at Anfield.
The Blues’ three wins at the home of their arch-rivals in the Premier League era have come under three different managers: Joe Royle in 1995, Walter Smith in 1999 and Carlo Ancelotti in 2021. But Moyes, despite making the trip more often than any other Everton boss since 1992 – 12 times in all competitions – still doesn’t know what it’s like to taste victory on that side of Stanley Park.
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