On Merseyside they’re arguably the two most anticipated matches of the season. On a par are Manchester City v United and, north of the border, Rangers v Celtic. These are the games that are guaranteed sell-outs. Both Liverpool and Everton are desperate to win, so it comes as quite a surprise that in a total of 234 meetings in the clubs’ history, there have been no less than 73 draws. This may be because the two teams are so determined to out-do each other that they reach a deadlock.
The good news for Liverpool fans is that the draws tend to happen when the match is at Goodison Park, as has been the case for the last three seasons, so any fans looking at the Premier League betting odds for this season’s away fixture on October 17th could do well to bear this fact in mind.
And, with the last three away matches ending in a 0-0 stalemate they may well be hoping for a few more goals, as in these three memorable clashes.
Everton 2-2 Liverpool, FA Cup semi-final, 1977
Of all the close encounters over the years, this may be the one that Everton fans feel most cheated over. The venue was Maine Road and Liverpool seemed to be gliding towards another league title as well as the European Cup. The terrible weather on the day and a determined Everton meant that it was never going to be a walkover.
At one point, nevertheless, they were two ahead thanks to goals from Terry McDermott and Jimmy Case. But Everton got themselves back in the game courtesy of goals from Bruce Rioch and Ronny Goodlass. Then, in the final minute of extra time, Goodlass assisted and Bryan Hamilton scored – but referee Clive Thomas, no stranger to controversial decisions, spotted an infringement that no-one else could see and consigned Everton to a 3-0 defeat in the replay.
Everton 4-4 Liverpool, FA Cup 5th Round Replay, 1991
“Ronnie Moran (left), manager Kenny Dalgl” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by wekkuzipp
In an agonizing game for Liverpool, they were in front no less than four times, only for Everton to match them goal for goal. Tony Cottee, Graham Sharp and Peter Beardsley all finished the match with two goals to their name and the unanimous feeling was the Liverpool goals were in a class of their own compared with the goal-line scrambles that saw Everton score.
It marked the beginning of the end for Kenny Dalglish’s time in charge as he resigned two days later. Everton eventually won the replay by a single goal and Liverpool also failed to top the league.
Everton 3-3 Liverpool, 2013
Following a familiar pattern for these derbies, Philippe Coutinho scored first for Liverpool, with Kevin Mirallas equalising soon after.
Liverpool regained the advantage with a Luis Suarez’s free-kick. Then, Romelu Lukaku found some form and scored twice, surely securing a victory, but for a Daniel Sturridge header in the 89th minute that left things all square.
So here’s hoping that both this season’s meetings, plus any FA Cup clashes too, don’t have the same result. But you have been warned.
