A Merseyside derby is always the game I dread coming up most of all each season, and I suspect that is true for a large number of Everton supporters.
As soon as the fixtures are out, I look straight away for when the two derby matches are to be played. This season, the first of them is earlier than has been the case for a while now.
The reason, of course, is that Blues fans have been starved of success for so long that the only crumb of comfort during a long, hard campaign might be a win against the old enemy.
Victories over them have, though, been few and far between in the Premier League era, apart from a period in the mid-nineties when Everton enjoyed a spell of superiority over Liverpool as Duncan Ferguson regularly got off his sick bed to terrorize them, and players like Alex Kanchelskis briefly graced the team.
However, this weekend's game is at Anfield, where the Blues have not won since 2021. Before that, you have to go back to [Kevin Campbell's winner](https://princerupertstower.com/evertons-record-at-anfield-is-worrying-and-you-wont-believe-how-long-its-been-since-theyve-won-there-01k5bykapsse) in September 1999, a game I vividly remember watching in a city centre pub.
It may be a bit of ancient history, but Anfield used to be Everton's home ground and, in fact, the Blues won the first of their nine championships playing there just a year before moving to Goodison Park in 1892.
Since then, however, it has become the legendary home of the Reds, whose tremendous success has made them a global name alongside clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Barcelona.
But if you think things are tough for a Toffees supporter now, going back to the eighties when I was growing up in Merseyside, it was even worse.
Then Liverpool seemed to win nearly everything every season and at end of May they always appeared to end up with their hands on the League Championship or European Cup or a League Cup, and then in 1984, it was all three!
But in '84, Everton, with a young and talented side, finally won their first trophy for 14 years with an FA Cup final victory over Watford at Wembley.
The following season, we all hoped that finally our beloved Blues could mount a title challenge with this new-look team, and when they went to Anfield for the first derby of that season, the start had been promising (a little like now), but the team was still considered unproven.
Beating the champion Reds in their own backyard, where they were almost invincible, would be a genuine statement that Everton were for real and just might go on and do something special that season.
That is exactly what they did with Graeme Sharp's magical screamer, proving the difference in a typically tight and fiercely contested game. I still think it is the best derby goal of recent decades.
After that, the Toffees went on to run away with the league, claiming the title with a then-record tally of ninety points and finishing a very pleasing thirteen points clear of Liverpool.
Of course, I am not suggesting such a thing will happen this term, but a derby win at the Reds' place would represent a huge statement that the Blues are back and that this recent revival just could be the real thing.
Despite trying to be optimistic, the odds are very much against it happening on Saturday. But now Everton do have some players in their side who are genuine top-class talents, [used to winning](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/live/c0l65gg6310t) and who have no baggage of derby-day failure, unlike almost all their predecessors.
So can the Blues go and upset their neighbours on Saturday lunchtime and give us a much-needed tonic after years of frustration, humiliation, and defeat against them?
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