The derby test Liverpool must conquer to protect remarkable habit | OneFootball

Some people will not forget their first Merseyside derby. The chances are that, for very different reasons, Virgil van Dijk and Arne Slot are among them. Van Dijk’s injury-time winner against Atletico Madrid this week offered a reminder of his debut and another headed decider, against Everton seven years ago. He was an immediate hit.

For Slot, Diego Simeone’s late sending off at Anfield on Wednesday may have sparked memories of the only time he lost his head: at Goodison Park in February, after James Tarkowski’s 98th-minute equaliser, when Abdoulaye Doucoure, Curtis Jones, Slot and his assistant Sipke Hulshoff all saw red.

And so to a fixture that can provide a crash course to newcomers. Liverpool’s spending spree and Everton’s vast rebuilding job mean there will be plenty at Anfield on Saturday.

“Obviously you don't let them work it out for themselves,” said the Liverpool captain. “They have a feeling for it but the manager will have meetings, we all speak about it in the next couple of days.”

Ekitike has already opened his Liverpool account; for Isak and Wirtz, two men who cost nine-figure sums, there could be the chance to get a first goal for their new club in one of the fixtures that matters most. Three of their new teammates did: first Van Dijk, then Jones, and most recently Cody Gakpo.

There will be a poignancy, too, in the knowledge that Diogo Jota’s final goal came against Everton. He displayed quicksilver movement to show the essence of Jota.

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Diogo Jota of Liverpool celebrates scoring against Everton (Getty Images)

Isak’s finest assist that wasn’t came at Everton’s expense. Because, officially, no one was credited with the assist for Jacob Murphy’s 2023 tap-in at Goodison Park, due to a touch off Jordan Pickford. But Isak, with a weaving, stunning solo run, took on Ben Godfrey, Michael Keane and Idrissa Gana Gueye – in some cases repeatedly – to take him from the half-way line to the goal-line.

It was an illustration of his rare gifts. Isak’s last Premier League game came against Everton, too, in an underwhelming defeat for Newcastle in which they nevertheless qualified for the Champions League. Which, in turn, may have made it harder for Liverpool to prise him out of St James’ Park.

Now Slot is debating whether to give him a second consecutive start. Everton may note that, while they had their biggest net spend in a transfer window in their history, their nine summer signings still cost less than Isak.

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Virgil van Dijk celebrates against Everton in 2018 (Getty Images)

There could be a first taste of the Merseyside rivalry for Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, for Tyler Dibling, Merlin Rohl and Thierno Barry, though that trio are likelier to be substitutes than starters. Grealish, at least, may be undaunted.

In a Second City derby when at Aston Villa, he was once punched by a pitch invader, and a Birmingham fan, who was subsequently jailed. Simeone, aggrieved about the abuse he said he received from the Anfield crowd on Wednesday, may reflect it could have been worse.

And yet, among the many new faces, there will be a focus on the Premier League’s oldest manager and the man with most experience of this fixture. David Moyes first led a team at Anfield in December 2002, a few months after Ekitike’s birth and a few months before Wirtz’s. He got a 0-0 draw then and, indeed, in seven trips across Stanley Park in his first spell at Everton, he drew seven times. Each was a creditable result.

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Arne Slot lost his cool last season against Everton (Action Images via Reuters)

But Moyes has visited Anfield 22 times as a manager and never won. He needs no one to tell him that: he realises it better than anyone else. Only one man has managed more at Anfield without tasting victory and Moyes could draw level with Sir Bobby Robson on 23 on Saturday.

His task is toughened by Liverpool’s remarkable winning habit. Or, anyway, the remarkable way they find to win games late on. Everton could savour the late drama at Goodison Park in February but Liverpool have enjoyed it in every Premier and Champions League match this season, all five going their way with late interventions.

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David Moyes is targeting a first win at Anfield in his career (PA Wire)

It was Van Dijk’s turn on Wednesday. Now he would settle for an altogether more prosaic, predictable method of deciding games. “We don't want to come into a situation where we have to chase,” he said. They often don’t have to against Everton, who have not scored at Anfield since 2021. Then Carlo Ancelotti got their only win at Anfield this millennium, but even that was an empty Anfield, due to lockdown.

Their supporters have waited even longer than Moyes to see a win on Liverpool soil. As Van Dijk knows, it is a game that can kickstart Anfield careers. Wirtz and Isak will hope so. But as Slot, the ice man of Anfield who lost his cool at Goodison, knows, the Merseyside derby can test the emotions.