Follow Mail Sport's live blog of Everton vs Liverpool as the Reds bid to move nine points clear at the top of Premier League in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. By Harry Bamforth. Wow... now that is how you greet a team. The Everton fans have brought their A-game tonight, I mean, would you expect anything less. Supporters got down to Goodison Park early to greet the team bus and my word it's a sight to behold.
Those fans are singing at the top of their lungs, blues flares are everywhere, fans are climbing signs. you have to be mentally strong as the away team to resist all of that atmosphere. If this is what it's like now, what will it be like come 7.30pm?. I know there are going to be a whole lot of Liverpool fans happy to read that sub-heading. It's true, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss tonight's Merseyside derby in what is a major blow for Everton.
The Toffees striker has tormented the Reds so many times in the past. Last season, his aerial prowess caused the Liverpool defence a whole host of problems. I mean, he made Ibrahima Konate look like he didn't know how to defend. The goal he scored that day will be forever etched into my brain just because of the sheer height he jumped to head the ball in. It was like he was Lebron James in a Lakers game.
Anyway, he won't be doing that today because he is not fit. It's expected that Beto will start up top, but I guess we will find out in just a few minutes. Arne Slot, Liverpool boss, speaking on Tuesday:. Right, it's time to imagine I am Michael Buffer again... and in the red corner!. It's fair to say if this was a boxing match, Liverpool would be the outstanding favourite coming into this fight, don't you think?.
The Reds come into this game as the best team in the country on paper, they sit pretty on top of the tree. Arne Slot's side have the chance to go nine points clear of Arsenal this evening, which would really put them in the box seat of this title race. I mean, as if they weren't already. On paper, playing against a side down in 16th should be pretty straightforward, right?. Wrong. Liverpool know better than anybody just how this fixture is. No matter how good they are, the atmosphere of Goodison has sucked the life out of them before, and could easily do so again.
Just last year their title dreams were crushed by their bitter rivals, and if they lose tonight it could be the start of another downfall. And after their embarrassing defeat away at Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup, their confidence could have easily been hit. Their ego definitely will have been, that's for sure. Arne Slot will be under no illusions about how hard tonight will be for them, it's going to be one hell of a battle out there.
But can they come out the other side of it unscathed?. David Moyes, Everton manager, speaking on Tuesday:. Do you want to know one of the reasons I love covering derbies?. I allow myself to turn into the great Michael Buffer for a moment, and write like I am introducing a fighter into the ring. So, now I have set that up - in the blue corner... Everton will come into this derby feeling a lot better than they did before the original date in December, you know, when a certain Storm Darragh came along.
David Moyes is back at the helm and he has already transformed the Toffees since his return. They have won their last three Premier League games on the bounce, and my word have they looked so much better. Gone are the games where they would sit back and stay compact under Sean Dyche... they now ebb and flow down the pitch like they used to under the Scotsman. And with that, a lot of goals have come. Their loss to Bournemouth in the FA Cup last weekend was a step back, but I don't think that can be taken into account on a day like this.
As soon as those players in blue hear Z Cars while coming out of the tunnel, and all the noise from the stands, they will be more pumped up than they thought was possible. They won this fixture last season so that hoodoo has gone, but can they get the job done again?. Don't worry guys, that's a metaphor, there is not actually going to be a storm tonight. I know you are all scarred from when the Merseyside derby was postponed, so thought I would make that clear.
Just look at how quiet Goodison Park is though. There's just something about empty stadiums ahead of pictures that is so beautiful. It's so peaceful, but in 90 minutes time it is going to be absolutely bouncing. It's going to be on hell of an atmosphere tonight, I can't wait. The time has finally come. After over 130 years and 119 matches, Goodison Park will host the Merseyside derby for the final time this evening.
On days like these, the optimism and desire of the Blues inside the stadium make it one of, if not, the toughest grounds in the Premier League to visit. Liverpool know that all too well... It's a match where form goes out the window completely. Yes, the Reds may be far and away the best side in the division this year, but that means nothing on derby day. Today the game has that extra edge, with all the fans lucky enough to be inside the ground knowing it's the final time they will see blue vs red within it.
