Everton and Liverpool supporters will have to wait a while longer for what is likely to be the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park after the game was postponed due to Storm Darragh. The weather conditions saw the game called off on Saturday morning after [early morning talks between the two clubs and Liverpool city council](https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-everton-liverpool-came-postponement-30535030).
And so it means the Premier League will have to find an alternative date in the calendar for the two sides to meet, with the game unlikely to be played before February at the earliest due to the amount of fixtures during the Christmas period.
Both sides will now have the chance to take a breather, reset and attack the new fixture. But what will the postponement mean for a huge match? Our ECHO writers have their say:
Paul Gorst
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It's difficult to know either way if this postponement was a good time or not for Liverpool. Given it has come at the end of a punishing run that started at Southampton and then saw Real Madrid and Manchester City beaten at Anfield before a jaded draw at Newcastle in midweek, it's tempting to suggest the adverse weather conditions have given the visitors a reprieve today.
Even more so when you factor in that the Reds will have Alexis Mac Allister free of suspension when the rearrangement is played while also, all things being well, having Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota all on hand also.
The Reds aren't in Premier League action now for another week which is the sort of rare break in play during the typically hectic December period that Arne Slot must take full advantage of.
That being said, the chasing pack have the chance to ramp up the psychological warfare by chipping away at the Reds' lead while we await this game-in-hand to be played.
The weather itself will certainly have played havoc with defensive plans too given the aerial prowess of James Tarkowski and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in particular at Everton. Better conditions will be more conducive to Liverpool's general game-plan, although the prospect of a night game means the atmosphere will be undoubtedly more intimidating.
There are pros and cons for both sides of the argument, but ultimately, the rest may be an early Christmas gift for Slot's title chasers.
I felt more than a tinge of disappointment when the broadcast changes were released and it emerged the final Goodison derby would not be under the lights. Now it is highly likely that will be the case and surely that is fitting for the final act the Grand Old Lady will play in this historic rivalry?
The derby in April was such an incredible experience, the ground is at its seething, passionate, hostile best at night games and those are the conditions you want to host Liverpool in. Now, Everton should get that chance and while this decision was always about safety - and it is certainly the right call - it is a positive consequence of the bad weather hitting Merseyside today.
I also think this decision is a helpful one for Everton. Yes, they are boosted by the win over Wolves and Liverpool do look vulnerable at the back, but the gulf in form between the two clubs has been disappointingly wide for so much of the season and for all of the positives as the Blues hammered Wolves, there are still issues that need to be addressed and which could have been exploited by this Liverpool side. This break is another way in which the pressure that was threatening to overwhelm the club at the start of the week can just continue to reduce and allow everyone a chance to reset and rebuild.
This run of games for Everton is really challenging but instead of the four heavyweights in quick succession, Everton now have a prolonged break that will help players rest and recover that bit more - several, from Seamus Coleman to Armando Broja to Michael Keane - will benefit from this time off. Meanwhile, the chances are that Everton will face Liverpool at the end of a long, gruelling set of fixtures for the Reds which may also help the Blues make the final Goodison derby a happy one.
Ian Doyle
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There is absolutely no way at present of knowing if the final Goodison league derby being postponed is a good thing for Liverpool. That will only become apparent once a new date has been arranged.
The Reds will have been relieved in some way they didn't have to face an Everton side buoyed by rare victory in midweek, not least because the conditions would have suited the hosts and the visitors were without so many players and bodies and minds were clearly jaded by recent huge efforts.
Of course, there's no guarantee any of those absentees will be available next time around, nor that the game will not once again be scheduled for a busy period. Given Liverpool have significantly more commitments than their neighbours - they will already play at least 10 more games than Everton this season - it's pretty much a given the Blues will be fresher whenever the match takes place.
And the likelihood is the rearranged fixture will now take place in an evening, offering the home supporters a chance to ramp up the atmosphere in a way that just isn't possible for a lunchtime encounter.
In retrospect, Liverpool, in terms of the derby itself, would probably have preferred the game to go ahead on Saturday. But in the grander scheme of giving tired players a rest, it may ultimately be of benefit in the short and possibly long-term.
Even Manchester United stalwarts like Gary Neville love the Grand Old Lady and when Everton enjoyed their first home success over Liverpool in 13-and-a-half years in the most recent Merseyside Derby, he waxed lyrical about how the ground was shaking. Had the rivals from across Stanley Park locked horns this weekend then it wouldn’t have required goals from those in royal blue jerseys like Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin last time out, to cause this senior citizen of football grounds to rock dramatically as she approaches her final days.As soon as the citizens of Merseyside awoke on Saturday, many to the howls of the gusts being blown by Storm Darragh across the west coast of this island, it was obvious that no kind of proper football fixture could have taken place in such extreme weather. It’s sometimes very different than ordinary conditions, but you can still play a decent game in snow, hail or even a thunderstorm as we saw when Everton picked up their first point this term at Leicester City – so long as those on the pitch are safe from bolts of lightning – but wind just spoils things.Given that the 65mph winds here were greater than those forecast in both Cardiff and Plymouth, who each had their home matches postponed in advance, you wonder why it took so long, although there was obviously a lot of off-the-field planning surrounding this historic occasion though and a desire to press ahead if at all possible. It could be swings and roundabouts in terms of the pros and cons of playing the match later in the season in terms of form and personnel and while Evertonians might have been eager to see how Caoimhin Kelleher coped in the conditions with Alisson injured, their team have infamously failed to make the most when facing understudy Reds keepers before, like when third choice Brad Jones was hardly tested in the 2012 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The Blues have been denied the opportunity to use Wednesday night’s 4-0 thrashing of Wolverhampton Wanderers – their biggest home win since they defeated Manchester United by the same scoreline in April 2019 – as a platform, but an early kick-off for the last ever top flight meeting between these sides at The Grand Old Lady did feel somewhat disappointing. Like when Jurgen Klopp’s charges ‘lost the league at Goodison Park’ eight months ago though, the rearranged fixture now looks set to be under the lights which should help in terms of creating an extra special atmosphere again.