Arne Slot's side have the chance to go nine points clear, but the Reds have experienced their fair share of derby-day frustration in recent years
There are still more than three months of the Premier League season to go. Liverpool have a lot of tricky fixtures remaining – a lot trickier than a trip to Home Park, too. The Reds have yet to play Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea away from home, while a head-to-head with closest challengers Arsenal at Anfield on May 10 could be colossal.
Jamie Carragher, though, says Wednesday's Merseyside derby is "the biggest game of the season" for Liverpool – "and not because it's Everton".
As the former Reds defender pointed out on last Thursday, the game at Goodison Park is the crucial "game in hand", the chance for Arne Slot's side to open up a nine-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table. "If Liverpool win the derby, they've almost got one hand on the trophy," Carragher argued ahead of the 4-0 Carabao Cup rout of Tottenham.
Victory is by no means a given, though. For starters, Everton are a very different proposition compared to when the game was originally meant to be played. Secondly, it will be the last-ever derby at Goodison Park, a ground at which Liverpool have twice "lost the league" in the past six years…
Getty Images SportEverton revel in Liverpool's misery
The 2018-19 season still rankles with Reds. Jurgen Klopp's wonderful Liverpool team conquered Europe, but failed to end their wait for a first English championship since 1990 – and in the most agonising fashion possible.
Truth be told, 'failed' is too strong a word. After all, Liverpool only lost one game all season and finished with 97 points – the fourth-highest tally in the history of the league. It was devastating for Klopp & Co. that it wasn't enough to end the drought. Not for Everton fans, though. They revelled in the Reds' misery – and the role they played in it.
Most people would argue that it was the 2-1 loss to eventual champions Manchester City in an incredibly tight contest at the Etihad in January that effectively decided that historic title race. However, the 0-0 draw with Everton at Goodison on March 3 was actually the last time Liverpool dropped points that season.
AdvertisementAFP'We don't play Playstation!'
It was a bitterly frustrating afternoon for Liverpool, who would have gone back above City with a win. However, Jordan Pickford produced a brilliant first-half save to deny Mohamed Salah and the visitors didn't do enough after the restart, with their final shot on target coming via Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 54th minute.
Klopp played down the significance of the result at the time, but his dissatisfaction was obvious in his post-match press conference, with the visibly irritated German taking issue with one reporter's suggestion that Liverpool should have "gone more for the jugular" in the final half hour.
"I'm really disappointed about your question, really disappointed," Klopp fumed. "We don’t play PlayStation. Do you think we didn’t take enough risks today? Is that what you want to ask?
"Is there any draw that we didn’t try to win? An extra attacker, just to go wild, with nine matchdays [to go]. You think again, it’s PlayStation, bring on an extra attacker and football changes. It’s not like that, we are offensive enough. Football doesn’t work like that, come on."
'You lost the league at Goodison Park!'
Unfortunately for Klopp & Co., the fact that their second consecutive visit to Goodison ended goalless proved costly – and their city rivals were in no mood to let Liverpool forget it.
After learning that City had finished one point ahead of Reds thanks to a final-day win at Brighton, jubilant Everton fans sang "You lost the league at Goodison Park!" after own side's 2-2 draw at Tottenham on May 12, 2019.
Just under five years later, they were singing the exact same song – and, on this occasion, it carried even more weight, which only made it all the more painful for Liverpool fans to hear…
Getty Images Sport'Everyone has to look in the mirror'
Liverpool made the short trip across Stanley Park on April 24, 2024 with their season in real danger of complete collapse. During the preceding five weeks, they had been upset by Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals and then dumped out of the Europa League by Atalanta. Worse still, their Premier League title bid was unravelling, after another disappointing result at Old Trafford (this time, a 2-2 draw with Erik Ten Hag's team) and an abysmal loss at home to Crystal Palace.
A vital victory at Fulham had kept their faint hopes alive, but it was imperative that they also won at Goodison. They didn't, though. Liverpool lost. Badly. During a desperately disappointing 2-0 defeat, Liverpool were, as Gary Neville put it, "outmuscled" by Everton – much to the disgust of Virgil van Dijk.
"I think everyone has to look in the mirror, look at their own performance and if they really gave everything," the Dutch defender admitted to . "Do they really want to win the league? There are games after tonight, but play like we did overall in the game like today – not winning challenges and giving the ref an opportunity to give a free-kick – then you have no chance to win a title."
