'I played in Merseyside derbies – what happens behind the scenes shows real nature of rivalry'

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Everton welcome Liverpool to their new Hill Dickinson Stadium for the very first time on Sunday, marking a fresh chapter for the club following their landmark departure from Goodison Park. The iconic old ground received the farewell it deserved during a pulsating 2-2 draw last season, as James Tarkowski etched his name into Blues folklore with a thunderous stoppage-time equaliser.

On this occasion, both clubs find themselves in comparable positions despite having experienced vastly different campaigns. David Moyes ' men are firmly in contention for European football, with stumbles from those above them opening the door to piling pressure on the frontrunners — and for Everton fans, there could hardly be a better moment to get one over on their city rivals.

Liverpool , meanwhile, are nursing their wounds following their Champions League exit at the hands of holders Paris Saint-Germain. A victory in their last Premier League outing kept them within striking distance of Manchester United and Aston Villa , but an under-fire Arne Slot faces a considerably sterner challenge in the fixture that saw him dismissed after tempers flared 12 months ago.

Aaron Lennon is a player who has featured in countless derbies throughout English football and experienced the Merseyside showdown first-hand during his spell at Everton.

The former winger made his Blues debut in the heated clash with their fierce rivals, and Lennon has previously described the North London and Merseyside derbies as "very similar".

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Speaking following the dramatic 2-2 draw at Goodison Park last year, Lennon said: "Until you play in them games, you don't realise - I was the same.

"Going into them, you've heard about the Merseyside derby but until you're on that pitch, it grabs you, you are flying into tackles and doing things you wouldn't normally. You're pumped up, you notice it in the warm-up that it is the big one, you feel it.

"It's up there, it's fierce, I played in the North London one that's fierce as well. They're very similar, it's not just outside but within the football club.

"At Everton you knew the tension, you've got the old school, the kit men, the staff they're all Evertonians. There's been times where we've come in, we've lost and everyone's fuming then they'd go, 'at least the Reds got beat as well', you could see how much they disliked each other. It's similar, they're great, the atmosphere goes up a notch, they're brilliant to play in."

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United's 1-0 victory over Chelsea saw them widen their advantage over Liverpool, while a fourth consecutive home league loss for Liam Rosenior's team means that Everton will overtake them into sixth place. Their encounter 12 months ago descended into mayhem after four red cards were brandished. Tempers flared at Goodison Park, with three of those dismissals aimed at Liverpool, including management figures Slot and Sipke Hulshoff.

Moyes has turned up the heat ahead of the first clash at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium, with the Scotsman telling his counterpart to stop moaning about referees.

He said: "He has done a brilliant job and I have got to say he is a really good coach – that is from a neutral point of view.

"But I'm not sure I'm having him saying they are getting bad decisions at Anfield because if you ask any Premier League manager over football history, they will tell you that if there is one club that gets all the decisions, it is Liverpool Football Club.

"So if they are finding a few bad things at the moment, well, we have had to put up with them for years, every time we go there. But as a coach, I think he's a top coach.

"I actually think Liverpool supporters would agree with that if they were honest as well! There are very few decisions that go against Liverpool at Anfield. Very few."

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