“Story of our season – do well against the best teams but struggle against the mediocre ones.”
It was a classic piece of gallows humour for relegation-threatened Evertonians when trying to explain their latest Merseyside derby defeat to their Kopite friends, family and colleagues. Sean Dyche oversaw a deserved 1-0 victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal in his first game in charge – the Blues’ first win since October 22 and the Gunners’ first defeat in the competition since September 4 – prompting a much-improved mood ahead of the trip across Stanley Park.
Many fans of Liverpool – whose side hadn’t picked up three points since the turn of the calendar year themselves – spent the build-up to the fixture ‘crying it in’ about how Everton hadn’t had a better chance to win in front of fans at Anfield for years (the 2-0 success behind closed doors due to coronavirus restrictions in 2021 still feels like an anomaly for those on both sides of the divide). Given the numerous trials and tribulations their own club have put them through of late – both on and off the pitch – and the many sleepless nights such living nightmares have caused loyal but long-suffering Evertonians, listening to the complaints of their neighbours about the 'hardships' of a season potentially stuck in mid-table is more likely to elicit the playing of the world’s tiniest violin than any sympathy.
