Unbeaten at Goodison Park
©TM/IMAGO
Form goes out of the window in a derby, as the old cliche goes. However, that very much hasn’t been the case in Merseyside derbies since Jürgen Klopp became Liverpool manager. Klopp has transformed the Reds into one of the best teams in Europe during his nine years at Anfield, whilst Everton have largely been fighting relegation or at least in the bottom half of the table in recent years. And the Merseyside derbies in the last decade have reflected that.
Wednesday’s showdown at Goodison Park will be Klopp’s last ever Merseyside derby. And there are huge repercussions on the game. Liverpool can’t afford to lose any more ground on Manchester City in the title race, with full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold recently admitting the Reds have to be faultless in their last five Premier League games to have a shot at the title. Everton will no doubt be fired up to derail their rivals, but Liverpool fans can take some confidence in Klopp’s excellent record against the Toffees. Just one defeat in 18 matches, and unbeaten at Goodison Park.
As can be seen above, Liverpool have lost just one Merseyside derby from 18 games against Everton whilst Klopp has been in charge. That defeat came in a 2-0 loss at Anfield in 2021, without fans during the bleak covid times, meaning Klopp has never lost a game at Goodison Park. 11 wins from those 18 fixtures sees a record of 2.17 points per match for the German against the Toffees. However, the German has drawn six games against Everton, with five of those matches at Goodison Park, so there may be more hope for Sean Dyche’s team taking a point on Wednesday night.
In those derbies, Klopp’s Reds have scored 30 goals (1.67 goals scored per game) and conceded just 10 (0.56 goals conceded per game). Liverpool’s biggest margin of victory from those matches actually came back in 2016 in Klopp’s first derby – a 4-0 win at Anfield thanks to goals from Divock Origi, Mamadou Sakho, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge. However, in the game at Goodison Park in the Premier League last season the score finished level with a 0-0 draw. Shutting out the Reds may perhaps be Dyche’s best chance of taking something from Liverpool this season – only the top three have conceded less goals than Everton in the Premier League this season.
In Klopp’s entire career as manager, from all the opponents he has faced 10 times or more, he boasts the very best record against Everton. As you can identify in the table above, just six teams have faced Klopp 10 times or more and only beaten him once. But from those six sides no one has played against Klopp more than Everton have (18). When you take into consideration the emotion of the fixture, it’s an incredible record. One man who has played a big part in Klopp’s success from this fixture, is Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, who has seven goals against Everton – only Ian Rush and Steven Gerrard have score more in this fixture.
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