Records on the line in the Merseyside and Manchester derbies, Swansea’s bust-up to spark a reaction and a head to head between Sean Dyche and Marco Silva
Liverpool have never gone more than 15 consecutive derbies without defeat, that run ended by Andy King’s famous goal in October 1978, but it is a record that could fall in the next month. Their current tally is 14, with this match and next month’s FA Cup third-round tie here presenting them with an opportunity to make history at home. Everton are yet to win at Anfield during this century, and it is not only the head-to-head record which offers little hope. Between Scott Arfield’s goal in the 27th minute of their game against Burnley in September and Mohamed Salah’s equaliser in the 30th, Liverpool were losing at home – they have spent only those three minutes in arrears at Anfield in the league this season, making their ground by some margin that where away fans have spent least time celebrating. Meanwhile Everton are yet to win away from home, and indeed have held the lead in away games for only 47 minutes, worse than every team except for Crystal Palace, whose clock is still stuck at zero. But Liverpool fans will have less happy memories of the last time they glimpsed Sam Allardyce on the visitors’ bench, when he oversaw Palace’s 2-1 win in April, the first Anfield victory of his managerial career. Joe Gomez said after the 7-0 thrashing of Spartak Moscow on Wednesday that he expected an exciting game – “We’ve seen some teams come to Anfield and sit off but with the derby I don’t think they’ll come too defensive-minded” – but surely the last thing that can be expected of Allardyce is tactical naivety. SB
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