The latest Merseyside derby arrives with an unusual balance of power, as Everton enter in stronger league form than Liverpool and both clubs chase European qualification. The meeting at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 19 April 2026 could affect the Champions League prospects of Liverpool and shape Everton’s hopes of a first top-seven Premier League finish in five years.
Everton sit eighth after winning three of their last five league matches, while Liverpool’s season has stalled. Arne Slot’s team have suffered four defeats in their last five games across all competitions, conceding 10 goals and scoring just once during those losses, with only a narrow Premier League victory over Fulham breaking that poor sequence.
The Opta supercomputer suggests this Merseyside derby is extremely finely balanced after 10,000 simulations. Everton are given a 37.3% chance of victory, with Liverpool narrowly behind on 36.3%, and the probability of a draw stands at 26.4%. Over the full season, Opta projects a 69.1% likelihood that Liverpool secure a top-five finish and Champions League football, while Everton’s probability of finishing in the top seven is rated at 34.4%.
Those projections sit against a complicated historical backdrop. Everton beat Liverpool six times in the first 15 Premier League derbies between 1992 and 1999, a 40% win rate. Since the start of 2000, Everton have taken only five league victories from 52 Merseyside derbies, drawing 20 and losing 27, underlining how recent form contrasts with long-term trends.
Liverpool arrive having won the last two Premier League meetings with Everton, though both were at Anfield. The Reds last claimed three successive league Merseyside derbies between April 2016 and April 2017. Despite that record, Liverpool are only five points ahead of Everton and have claimed just three wins in their last 22 away league games against teams starting in the top half.
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Those away struggles include six defeats in the last seven such fixtures since a 2-0 win at Manchester City in February 2025, with one draw. Another loss on Sunday would give Liverpool 10 league defeats this season, something that has not happened to the club in the top flight since 2014-15, and would represent the highest defeat tally for a defending Premier League champion since Leicester City lost 18 times in 2016-17.
This is Liverpool’s first competitive visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium, Everton’s new home at Bramley-Moore Dock. It becomes the 62nd different ground Liverpool have played at in the Premier League era. If Liverpool win, they will be the first club to record victories at 60 separate stadiums in the competition’s history, adding another statistical landmark to the derby.
Everton’s last home Merseyside derby, the final one at Goodison Park, ended dramatically in February 2026. A 97th-minute volley from James Tarkowski secured a 2-2 draw and produced a memorable farewell to the old stadium in this fixture. Everton’s most recent league win over Liverpool came in April 2024, a 2-0 success at Goodison sealed by goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The move from Anfield to Goodison in 1892 once required 18 matches before Everton managed three straight home league wins. At Hill Dickinson, that milestone could arrive sooner. This will be Everton’s 17th Premier League game at their new ground, and David Moyes’ side are seeking a third consecutive home league victory, after already recording back-to-back wins including a strong display against Chelsea in March.
Merseyside derby Everton Liverpool form, fixtures and European race
Everton’s improvement at Hill Dickinson has arrived at a strategic moment in the European race. With Brentford, Fulham, Chelsea and Brighton all playing their league fixtures on 18 April 2026, Everton will know the exact impact of a win or defeat before kick-off. A victory would move Everton to 50 Premier League points for the first time since 2020-21, when Carlo Ancelotti’s team ended with 59 points in 10th place.
Across the city, Liverpool’s season has been defined by missed targets. The club are out of the FA Cup after a heavy defeat to Manchester City and exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, losing the second leg at Anfield to reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain. That 2-0 loss also deepened concerns about Arne Slot’s position, with a top-five finish possibly insufficient to secure long-term backing.
Liverpool’s hopes of late-season recovery were further damaged by a serious injury to Hugo Ekitike against PSG. The striker went down unchallenged in the first half and left the pitch on a stretcher. On 16 April 2026, the club confirmed a ruptured Achilles tendon, ruling Ekitike out of the rest of Liverpool’s campaign and denying a World Cup opportunity with France.
Merseyside derby Everton Liverpool key players and Opta stats
Ekitike’s debut season finishes with 17 goals and six assists from 45 matches in all competitions. No Liverpool player has matched that contribution, with Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai each responsible for 20 goal involvements. Salah has 11 goals and nine assists, while Szoboszlai has 12 goals and eight assists, increasing the pressure on both to cover Ekitike’s absence in the remaining league games.
Alexander Isak has finally returned from a leg fracture to ease some of that burden but remains short of full fitness. The striker was limited to 45 minutes against PSG and has made only 19 appearances this season in all competitions, starting 11 times. Across 859 minutes of action, Isak has scored three goals and provided one assist, figures that underline how little rhythm the forward has found.
For Everton, Beto carries the main attacking threat and arrives in outstanding form. The forward has delivered five goal involvements across the last five Premier League matches, with four goals and one assist. Since 28 February 2026, only Bruno Fernandes, with seven, has been involved in more league goals, and no player has scored more than Beto or Brentford striker Igor Thiago in that period.
Beto also enjoys this fixture and venue. The forward scored in the final Goodison Park derby and hit a brace against Chelsea in his most recent appearance at Hill Dickinson Stadium. On the creative side for Liverpool, Florian Wirtz has produced 50 chances from open play in the Premier League this season, second only to Fernandes’ 75, and Wirtz is the first Liverpool player since Salah in 2017-18 to reach that mark during a debut league campaign.
With both teams separated by only five points, harbouring European ambitions and carrying contrasting momentum, this Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium shapes as one of the most balanced in recent memory. Everton’s improved home form, Liverpool’s historic edge and several key absences combine to create a contest in which small details and individual moments could decide both bragging rights and European positions.
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