The Merseyside derby is one of the biggest games in the English football calendar and has been for well over a century now. While it doesn't quite have the same gravitas as it did in the 1980s when Liverpool and Everton were the top two sides in the country, it remains one of the absolute best derbies around.
In fact, it's one of only two 'proper' derbies to feature in every single Premier League season, along with the north London derby. There's a lot of history just in the Premier League era, then.
So Football FanCast has delved into that history and looked at the best Merseyside derbies since the start of the Premier League. Here's what we've gone for.
10 Liverpool 1-1 Everton – September 2014
Okay, so there's going to be a bit of a theme at times. Over the last 30-odd years, Liverpool and Everton games haven't necessarily been all-out classics. There have been spells where the Reds were by far the dominant side, routinely winning plenty of games 3-1.
And there have also been a lot of defensive games. That's largely because of the gulf between the two teams, or the fact that both played defensive football from about 1999 through 2011.
Thus some of these games are more known for a single moment, rather than the game being an all-out classic. This is one of those as Phil Jagielka rescued a point at Anfield not just with a last-minute equaliser but with one of the greatest strikes the fixture has ever seen.
Everton pushed and pushed, working the ball into the box late on. Dejan Lovren headed it clear but Jagielka, coming onto the ball roughly 25-yards out, smashed it first time into the top corner, in off the bar. Stunning.
9 Everton 2-1 Liverpool – December 1992
This was the very first Merseyside derby under the Premier League banner and a notable one, too. The two teams were, at this point, two of the very biggest in English football. Liverpool had more titles than anyone – far more, in fact – while only Arsenal bumped Everton into having the third-most.
Basically, everyone expected the two Merseyside teams to compete for the title in the 90s. If you'd told anyone at the time that 31 years later, they'd have one title between them, you'd have been laughed at – but here we are.
But anyway, the first derby. Mark Wright put Liverpool ahead at Goodison Park on 62 minutes – but Everton found an equaliser within a minute through Mo Johnston.
And the Toffees would go on to find a winner, too, as former Liverpool great Peter Beardsley scored six minutes from time to win the game. First blood to Everton, then.
8 Liverpool 3-0 Everton – March 2012
2010/11 was a bizarre season for Liverpool. It started with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette being ousted by administrators as the Reds' finances sunk. Then Roy Hodgson replaced Rafa Benitez and the club's stock in the Premier League fell even further than those finances.
New owners, now known as FSG, entered in October and Kenny Dalglish returned as managed in January. Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll arrived soon after – with Fernando Torres departing. All change, then, as the Reds did turn things around.
Everton, in contrast, were simply stable. David Moyes was now into a decade as boss – but still without a win at Anfield. He wasn't to get it here, however, as Steven Gerrard made some history.
He scored all three in the win – the first hat-trick in the Merseyside derby since Ian Rush in 1982. It was the first at Anfield since 1935. All made more notable by it being the face of Liverpool Football Club doing it.
7 Liverpool 0-2 Everton – February 2021
Well, this was historic. Everton went into this one having not won a match at Anfield since 1999. In fact, they hadn't beaten Liverpool full-stop since 2010.
23 attempts had come and gone without a win, which is truly extraordinary for any Premier League side. However, they came up against a bizarre Liverpool side in 2021. Injuries sustained to Virgil van Dijk (in the reverse fixture), Joe Gomez and Joel Matip crippled the Reds' defence and Jurgen Klopp struggled to find anything that worked.
Carlo Ancelotti, who boasts a great record against the German anyway, was the right man to capitalise on Liverpool's difficulties. He set his side out at Anfield to stifle the hosts and push consistently on the break.
Richarlison has Everton 1-0 up within three minutes and a late penalty sealed a historic win – but with one catch. This was in the 'pandemic season', meaning there wasn't actually a crowd at Anfield that day. While the Toffees do now have a win at Liverpool's ground in the 21st century, it is debatable whether it's quite the same. One to argue about.
6 Liverpool 1-0 Everton – December 2018
This is firmly another one of those games that wasn't particularly good but has one standout moment that everyone watching will forever remember.
Everton had a plan – defend with all they have and leave with a point. They were incredibly close to doing just that against a Liverpool team that would win the Champions League that season.
Deep into stoppage time, Liverpool had a deep freekick and one last chance to break the Everton backline. They failed. The ball was cleared to the edge of the box and Virgil van Dijk attempted an ill-advised volley at goal that flew harmlessly into the air and over the bar.
Only, Jordan Pickford was clearly caught in two minds. The ball was dropping just past the crossbar but the Everton goalkeeper tried to claim it anyway, presumably to try and counter-attack. All he did, however, was push the ball back into play. It bounced on the crossbar, fell in front of goal and the waiting Divock Origi scored a dramatic winner. Scenes.
5 Everton 1-2 Liverpool – October 2007
What a crazy game this was. This era was one where Everton fancied themselves against Liverpool, having won convincingly at home the season before. Liverpool got the better of them, though, through two penalties – both of which resulted in red cards.
Everton went into the break 1-0 up after Sami Hyypia scored an own goal. The second half was pure chaos, however, as Dirk Kuyt scored from the spot as Tony Hibbert saw red on 54 minutes.
Liverpool pushed and pushed against 10 men to find a winner. With 90 minutes on the clock, Lucas Leiva sent the ball towards goal only for Everton captain Phil Neville to save it – with his hands. Off he went, then, as Kuyt stepped up to fire home the winner with his second penalty.
That's not the entire story, though. Kuyt probably should have been sent off himself on 64 minutes for what was a horrendous challenge – he lept fully into the air at about waist height. While he avoided any serious contact with Neville, it was about as reckless as it gets. The Dutchman only saw yellow, though, and went on to score the winner.
4 Everton 3-0 Liverpool – September 2006
The two teams were as evenly matched as they had been for 15 years going into this. Everton were actually 3rd in the early Premier League table, with the Reds – who had won the Champions League and FA Cup over the last two years – down in 9th.
Though, if you hadn't known, you wouldn't have thought the two teams were particularly close coming out of it. Everton blew Liverpool away, registering a historic win.
Tim Cahill opened the scoring, with and Andy Johnson brace sealing it – with a little help from a horrendous Pepe Reina performance in goal for the Reds. The 3-0 win remains not only Everton's biggest win over Liverpool in the Premier League era but their biggest since 1964.
3 Liverpool 0-1 Everton – September 1999
So this is, in fact, the last time Everton won in front of an Anfield crowd. It was a far more notable game than the scoreline suggests, too.
Kevin Campbell got the goalscoring out of the way early on – his fourth-minute strike was enough to seal this one. But the drama didn't stop there.
On 74 minutes, Everton's Francis Jeffers and Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld got into a scuffle. It was one that saw both players sent off, with this one being played 10 vs 10 for the next 15 minutes. However, the Reds had made all three substitutions, meaning defender Steve Staunton had to go in goal.
It wouldn't finish that way. Young Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard – a second-half substitute – took out his frustration with a shocking 'tackle' in stoppage time. That earned him a red card, too, to seal an awful day for his side and a fantastic one for Everton.
2 Everton 3-3 Liverpool – November 2013
An absolute classic of a game between two teams looking towards the top of the Premier League. Everton were in 5th going into this, with Liverpool above them in 3rd.
But both were managed by two of the up-and-coming managers in the Premier League. Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers each wanted to instill attacking, possession-based football on their sides. This match showed off just how exciting it could be.
Liverpool took an early lead as Philippe Coutinho found the net as he nudged the ball home at close range after a set-piece. Three minutes later, Kevin Mirallas did the exact same thing to equalise for Everton.
The Reds went into half-time in front, though, after Luis Suarez scored an outrageous freekick. This season saw the Uruguayan dominate the league – here was a taste.
The second half was Romelu Lukaku's time to shine. He equalised on 72 minutes and then appeared to find a winner with just six minutes to play. But Liverpool hit back as Daniel Sturridge flicked an inventive header into the far corner on 89 minutes.
A whirlwind game and arguably the best out-and-out match between the two in the Premier League.
1 Everton 2-3 Liverpool – April 2001
This game had 12 yellow cards – one of which became red – a penalty and a last-minute free-kick winner. Peak.
Emile Heskey put Liverpool ahead after only five minutes at Goodison. Right before half-time, though, Duncan Ferguson was able to equalise for the hosts. Yellow card count at this stage: 3.
The second half was action-packed, then. Markus Babbel fired home for 2-1 just ahead of the hour mark and Liverpool were in a commanding position. But Igor Biscan, who received a first-half yellow, earned himself a second one on 77 minutes. Suddenly, the game was there for Everton.
And they found an equaliser from the penalty spot. David Unsworth sent the ball into the net and Everton had the final six minutes to push for a winner. Only, they weren't the ones to find it.
Liverpool won a free-kick in stoppage time that was simply not within shooting range. That convinced Paul Gerrard in the Everton goal to step out a bit for Gary McAllister's delivery – only, the Scot spotted that. McAllister instead caught the goalkeeper out, finding the net and a winner to send Liverpool fans delirious.
Everton, though, can rightly point to the fact that McAllister's eventual freekick was roughly 10 yards ahead of where the foul had happened. So you can add controversy to this one, too.