David Moyes' Everton history with Liverpool: TEN men sent off, no wins at Anfield in 11 years and coining 'the people's club' - with tonight rekindling a fierce old rivalry

David Moyes was happy to fan the flames when he first arrived at Everton in March 2002. 'I am joining the people’s football club. The majority of people you meet on the street are Everton fans,' he said. Whether a genuinely held belief or not, he knew what he was doing. Like this season, he arrived to a furnace of pressure and emotion. On his first day, he got lost on the way to their Finch Farm training centre, and when he arrived, Paul Gascoigne was demanding to leave. Fortunately the Scot was better at navigating the relegation battle, picking up 13 points in nine games.

He rebuilt the club over 11 years, a legacy no Toffees manager since has matched, but he could never quite crack the nut across the city. In his 25 Merseyside derbies in that first stint, Moyes only won four. The fixture became a tale of frustration - there was a last-gasp FA Cup semi-final heartbreak in 2012, a constant stream of red cards, 13 defeats in all. Even the joys were stifled to an extent. When Dan Gosling scored a dramatic late winner in 2009, ITV cut away to an ad break. Would you like to buy some Tic Tacs?.

But despite a shaky away record - they never won at Anfield - Goodison Park became something of a fortress and the cauldron of many a great game. David Moyes will oversee his 26th Merseyside derby tonight and is looking for his fifth win. He said Everton were the 'people’s football club' when he joined in 2022, setting the tone for an epic rivalry. Moyes has experienced the highs and the lows, with crushing defeats and stunning wins.

Tonight marks the 120th and final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Storm Darragh did its best to stop it, and had the fixture delayed from December, but the maelstrom on the pitch could be even more extreme knowing Moyes' history with Liverpool. His first Merseyside derby came at Anfield in December 2002 and ended 0-0, but set the tone for truculent affairs to come. Steven Gerrard was retrospectively banned for three games after what was described as a 'blood-curdling' foul on Gary Naysmith, his studs-up, two-footed lunge late on connecting with the Scot's knee and thing.

Needless to say, the next game at Goodison in April 2003 hit sizzling temperatures. Liverpool won 2-1 but had to come through the wars. Both David Weir and Naysmith were red carded. Everton considered a lifetime ban for one Toffees fan who stormed the pitch and threw a scarf at Salif Diao, which sounds rather quaint 22 years on. In Moyes' first 25 games against Liverpool, there were no less than 14 red cards, 10 for Everton (though Jack Rodwell's was rescinded). On three occasions, they were slashed to nine men for their unsavoury play.

Perhaps that's no surprise given that the fixture overall has the most red cards of any Premier league fixture with 23. Those early years brought some immeasurable highs. At Goodison in December 2004, Lee Carsley left Chris Kirkland statuesque as he smashed home a 20-yard piledriver to seal a 1-0 win. That result left Everton 12 points ahead of their city rivals and second in the league table. The only enjoyable aspect of the day for Liverpool fans was a half-time penalty shoot-out between Santa impersonators.

Moyes was ecstatic. 'We have got to be in with a shout of the title, haven't we?' he said afterwards. In the end they finished fourth, enough for a Champions League third qualifying round place, though Villarreal killed their dreams the following summer. Tempers flared in April 2003 at Goodison Park, and Salif Diao ended up with the dreaded scarf treatment. Lee Carsley scored a stunning long-range effort for one of Moyes' four wins in December 2004.

Pepe Reina practically handed the ball to Andy Johnson as Everton won 3-0 in September 2006. Then, in September 2006, Everton battered Liverpool 3-0 at home. Moyes had secured them their biggest derby win in 42 years. Tim Cahill scored one of his five goals in the fixture while Andy Johnson bagged twice. Johnson could scarcely believe his luck when, for the final goal, Pepe Reina practically placed the ball on his head in one of the most bizarre goals fans could see.

Moyes rarely gave Liverpool an easy game in Walton, that historic stadium teeming with life in the stands and buzzing with intensity on the turf. That said, the Reds had the upper hand. He has won four of his 12 games against Liverpool at Goodison, drawing one, but losing seven. In September 2008, Liverpool were unplayable as they ran out 2-0 winners. Fernando Torres scored twice to give Liverpool their best-ever Premier League start at the time and Reina didn't have to make a save.

Moyes sometimes felt luck was against them. He complained about James Beattie's ruled-out goal in a 3-1 loss in December 2005, but in truth they had just come up against a good Liverpool side. Everton didn't help themselves, with Mikel Arteta and Phil Neville getting sent off. It was a similar story in the reverse fixture at Anfield in March 2006. Neville scored an own goal and Andy van der Meyde was given his marching orders, as was Gerrard.