Liverpool look for a slice of the Premier League in their farewell to Goodison Park

After being eliminated last Sunday in the round of 32 of the FA Cup by Plymouth (bottom of the Championship, the English Second Division), Liverpool , leader of the Premier League and winner of the Champions League phase, will seek to get a piece of the championship against Everton on Wednesday in a match full of emotions.

It is nothing less than the last Merseyside derby that will be played at Goodison Park .

Liverpool are set for their 122nd battle at their city rivals' home ground, Goodison Park , a historic stadium opened in 1892 that Everton will leave at the end of the season to move to their new ground, Bramley-Moore Dock.

This Everton-Liverpool Premier League game was scheduled for December 7, but was postponed due to Storm Darragh. Today Everton arrive at this big match with David Moyes in charge, since January 11, after the dismissal of Sean Dyche .

The Toffees are 16th in the table, 30 points behind Liverpool , who, if they win tonight, will have nine more than Arsenal in second. Moyes said on Tuesday that “there is a gap between the two teams, but I want to make it smaller, in my previous time at Everton I remember we finished above them twice.”

For Liverpool manager Arne Slot , who replaced Jurgen Klopp last summer , it will be his first Merseyside derby .

Slot said: “Everyone has told me that Goodison Park is like Anfield in terms of its fantastic atmosphere. The FA Cup exit was unacceptable and I assume that my players are now ready for another battle, as they have been all season.”

Under Moyes, Everton have won three of their last four Premier League games. As for the last Everton-Liverpool game, with Dyches and Klopp as managers, the Toffees beat the Reds 2-0 in the Premier League on April 24. Joe Gomez is out due to injury and Trent Alexander-Arnold is doubtful.

The latest Merseyside derby at the iconic Goodison Park is being played tonight in the usual atmosphere of high pressure, but with a mood that has nothing to do with the situations that Everton and Liverpool were experiencing two months ago.

Back then, the match of maximum rivalry between the Toffees and the Reds had to be postponed in the first week of December due to the effects of the wind and snow from Storm Darragh that crossed the north of the United Kingdom. The match is being played tonight and, apparently, without the difference in level that seemed to surround the two Liverpool clubs.

Arne Slot 's failed decision in the FA Cup to rest many of his regulars led to an unexpected elimination on Sunday against EFL Championship bottom side Plymouth Argyle (1-0), which has raised the first doubts in what had been an impressive season so far for the Premier League leaders.

The surprising defeat at Home Park, in a tie in which they were unable to score a single goal, has now increased the pressure on Slot to win the English league title, while keeping Liverpool with a six-point lead over Arsenal and the possibility tonight of increasing it to nine, if they can beat their bitter blue enemies Liverpool, who already beat and frustrated them last year. Goals from Branthwaite and Calvert-Lewin gave Everton their first victory (2-0) in a 'Merseyside derby' at their stadium in April, which was also a big step on their road to staying in the Premier League.

The ineffable Sean Dyche is no longer in the Everton dugout, and the effect that the return of the Scotsman David Moyes has had on his arrival at Goodison Park is reflected in the nine points gained, which have kept them away from relegation.

Under Moyes, the 'toffees' breathe a different atmosphere, have regained confidence and feel the drive of the club's new owners, the American Friedkin Group of multimillionaire Dan Friedkin , who are preparing an ambitious new project, before their move next season to the new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium, on the Liverpool docks.

Although eliminated from the FA Cup by Bournemouth (0-2), this Everton can now once again count on the drive of its fans, and have managed to string together three encouraging victories, thus achieving a gap of nine points above the relegation zone.

Liverpool are also not in the best form they had a few weeks ago. They are burdened by their FA Cup exit, which has marked too much of a difference between starters and substitutes in the powerful Reds' squad.

They have not lost away from Anfield in the Premier League, although Tottenham beat them in the EFL Cup (1-0), which was the first warning sign. Another effervescent atmosphere is expected today in the stands at Goodison Park given that it will be the last 'derby', the farewell.

Arne Slot will carry the sad defeat in Plymouth with him all season, his first mistake as Liverpool manager. Regarding its effects, the Dutchman always has a recurring phrase that he repeats: "Nothing good comes from a defeat", and that is why the response that the 'Reds' give today at Goodison Park is so important.

Those who did not play in Plymouth, Salah , Van Dijk , Gravenberch , Konaté , MacAllister , Szoboszlai and Robertson , will bear all the pressure today to respond. Only in this way will they make the stain of the FA Cup be forgotten soon.