David Moyes has admitted that the furore surrounding the last Merseyside derby could impact Wednesday’s clash between Liverpool and Everton.
The sides meet for the second time in two months, with the first encounter on 12 February producing a frenetic and dramatic final derby at Goodison Park. James Tartowski’s injury-time equalizer resulted in jubilant scenes for the hosts as Everton snatched a 2-2 draw in a bad-tempered affair that saw four red cards handed out after the full-whistle.
The emotions certainly spilled over in a fixture that has seen the most red cards in Premier League history. We could be in for more this time around, with Moyes stating the chaotic scenes last time could have an impact on Wednesday’s game at Anfield.
“You never know,” he replied, when asked if the emotion could carry over to this week’s match. “I think it’s a big game and always has been. I remember Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher trying to do one of our boys in the first couple of minutes and we were trying to replicate it.
“Obviously we’re not in that situation and that sort of football anymore. But I think it’s a derby and it means a lot. Anfield has always been a difficult place to go and we’ll give it all the respect it deserves.”
Reflecting on the previous derby during the interview with Sky Sports, Moyes added: “We deservedly got a result in that game, but it looked up until the last few minutes that we were going to find ourselves losing.
“In the end, it was a magic night. The last derby game at Goodison made it a bit special but I also thought the team’s performance was in many ways special. We would have liked to have won it but to rescue a point was a good result for us.”
Moyes has never won a Premier League match at Anfield but brings his Everton side to Anfield as the team with the second-best unbeaten record in the top flight. Only Liverpool’s 25-match run in the league is better.
The Scot became used to tight affairs between the clubs during his first spell as Everton boss and admits that getting back to that sort of level in the coming years is in the Toffees’ plans.
“The gap has widened and when I left it was much closer; the levels of the teams were closer,” Moyes admitted. “I am hoping that where we are now is the start of starting to close the gap in some ways. We have to try and find a way to challenge all the teams near the top, not just Liverpool. We need to try and get closer to the European positions.
“The period I was here before, we finished above them a couple of times in the league but it’s not something we have done regularly enough and it’s something we need to try and improve on going forward,” he added.
