David Moyes has never led a team to victory at Anfield but is hoping his rejuvenated Everton side can help shake off that sorry statistic when they take on Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Moyes has faced Liverpool away on 21 occasions with Manchester United, Sunderland, West Ham United, and Everton without success and is tired of being reminded of his poor record.
“I don’t want it, I want to win and I want to make sure that we get rid of it if we can,” Moyes told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s game.
“I’d be lying if I said that I look forward to going there because it’s been such a hard place to get results.
“I think every team whenever they go to Anfield they have a tough game on their hands.”
Moyes replaced Sean Dyche in January, having previously managed Everton from 2002 to 2013, with the club one point above the relegation zone, but since losing his opening game they are unbeaten in nine league matches.
That run, which took Everton 17 points clear of the bottom three, included a 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool.
“I think for us to be competitive against Liverpool was a big thing, and we deserved a draw on the night,” Moyes said.
“We did enough to earn that and worked for it. When you think of the difference in where the two teams have been, Liverpool have been mainly at the top all season and we’ve been very close to the bottom.
“I thought the players did a great job and we’re hoping to do it again.”
That game, the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, was a dramatic and fiery affair, with James Tarkowski’s stoppage time equaliser for Everton sparking a scuffle between the players, but Moyes believes that is all part of the derby’s appeal.
“I think that’s it a game which everyone enjoyed, the media, the supporters, I think even Liverpool supporters in many ways enjoyed the game, maybe they didn’t enjoy the end,” Moyes said.
“I think these games can do that, other derbies do as well, but also the game was allowed to flow correctly, we didn’t have stoppages for everything.”
If Everton are to win, Moyes knows it will be important to deal with Mohamed Salah, the Premier League’s top scorer this season, and he will be happy when the Liverpool winger does decide to move on.
“We could try and build a wall or something to stop him. We did quite a good job on him in the first game so we’ll have to hope we can do something similar,” Moyes said.
“We’ll enjoy taking him to the airport and getting him on the plane, getting him out.”
