A different stadium with different sounds but a Merseyside derby with a familiar result

AFC BournemouthArsenalAston VillaBrentfordBrighton & Hove AlbionBurnleyChelseaCrystal PalaceEvertonFulhamLeeds UnitedLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedNewcastle UnitedNottingham ForestSunderlandTottenham HotspurWest Ham UnitedWolverhampton WanderersScores & ScheduleStandingsFantasyThe Athletic FC NewsletterPodcastsA different stadium with different sounds but a Merseyside derby with a familiar resultEverton fans wave flags before kick-off on Sunday Gareth Copley/Getty Images Share article“I’m pretty confident, you know… I’m normally nervous for these games, but I woke up today thinking we’ll win.” It was at this moment, when overhearing an Everton fan discuss the upcoming big match on the train to Liverpool, The Athletic knew who would win the 248th Merseyside derby. Everton and confidence are not natural bedfellows. The self-styled People’s Club have perfected and honed the role of the noisy, plucky underdog over many years of relegation battles and false dawns. But then, you know, new stadium, fresh start, some reasons for optimism, or is it nil satis nisi optimum, etc? Victory would take the Toffees to within two points of their city rivals and ergo also an unlikely Champions League spot. How would the dynamics of being at Hill Dickinson Stadium change this most historic of grand football occasions? Derby days at Goodison Park, Everton’s home for 133 years, could at their best be as vivid and atmospheric as anything the English game has to offer. Too often this century the fixture had become boringly one-sided, but the last two Premier League Merseyside derbies at the old place were gloriously feral. There was a 2-0 win for Everton in 2024, which effectively ended Liverpool’s title hopes, when Toffees giddily sang, “You’ve lost the league at Goodison Park,” as they danced in the streets outside. Last year, the final derby at Goodison threw up an unhinged 2-2 draw with James Tarkowski kerplunking a stoppage-time equaliser to send the ground figuratively foaming at the mouth in a rabid frenzy. There was no noise or feel, certainly in the Premier League, quite like Goodison, which at its loudest sounded, and felt, like 39,000 people, most of them a couple of pints deep and with their inhibitions lost, screaming through your letterbox. Hill Dickinson, obviously, can never compare, but how does it feel for Everton’s biggest game of the season as the derby returns? The sight of people queueing for £8 pints and chicken goujons while a DJ blasts out some Fred Again is, well, different. Misty-eyed nostalgia needs to be parked at door; you’re not going to pop into the Winslow for a pint or get a tray of proper chips here. There are as many stalls for toasties and coffee as for pies and pints. Hill Dickinson, while not the most easily accessible stadium, is a structure of exquisite, modern splendour. The club have done things well in terms of getting people to the ground early to build an atmosphere, both around the perimeter with all the stalls and bars, where thousands upon thousands are gathering some two hours before kick off, but also inside the aesthetically pleasing arena, much in the same way you get at Tottenham Hotspur. “Up the f****** Toffees,” is the refrain you here time and again on the 40-minute walk from Lime Street Station to the stadium, in crisp spring air that becomes bluer the closer you are to arriving via a smattering of blue flares. You can always tell who let them off; their faces end up blue under their smirks, like a happy Smurf. It’s the people who made Goodison what it was and the same will be true here. On that front, the atmosphere, in an altered state, remains wonderful. Liverpool are probably the only club that can rival Everton for a goosebump-inducing build-up to kick-off. The routine has evolved slightly since Goodison. On Sunday, there was In My Life and There She Goes by Liverpool bands The Beatles and The La’s over a video montage of goals, traditional club tune It’s a Grand Old Team, Elton John’s I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues, which gets 50,000 people singing into the sky as one, straight into the Z Cars klaxon and the teams were out. It’s meaningful, it’s authentic, it’s stirring even for the neutral. The roars are louder than at Goodison, but in terms of the pitch, tone and key, clearly it lacks the acoustics that Goodison provided with its low roofs and lack of room to house a cat, let alone swing one. The Hill Dickinson is not unique. It’s picture perfect but needs some personalisation, some statues, some character. It will take a while to feel like home. It is still loud, though. No crowd, certainly in the Premier League, shouts ‘man on’ with quite the desperate, pleading ferocity of an Everton crowd. No crowd revels in gruff, stud-bearing sliding tackles quite like an Everton crowd. No other crowd enjoys in quite the same manner a tenacious shot being blocked by a defender throwing their body at the ball. All those things remain the case at Hill Dickinson. As is their undiluted, unfiltered hatred for all things red and Liverpool, particularly Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson. When Iliman Ndiaye gives the Toffees a fake lead (it’ll be ruled out for offside by VAR), the place erupts in a manner you’d have to travel far to replicate; it’s limbs and uncontrollable screaming on all four sides of the stadium. The untamed rollercoaster of derby-day emotions rolls up and down for the next hour, via Mohamed Salah’s opener and Beto’s equaliser but, when the crowd quieten and Everton’s relentless pressing quells, Liverpool’s technique and ability peek through and it’s a different game. Injuries to Giorgi Mamardashvili and Jarrad Branthwaite dull the atmosphere and Everton rue their impotence in the final third, barely testing third-choice Liverpool goalkeeper Freddie Woodman in the final 30 minutes. There is a depressing inevitability about what happens in the 100th minute, when Van Dijk heads home the most dramatic of winners. Before the final whistle goes there are thousands of empty blue seats. Those who stay show no emotion except pained disbelief. Silence fills the stadium, except for the cries of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the away end. Oh, Everton. No Premier League fixture has seen more stoppage-time winners for one team than Liverpool against Everton. This was Liverpool’s 30th victory in the derby since 2000, while Everton have won just six. “We’ve had a great time but we’re not happy,” one Everton fan bemoans on the train out of Liverpool. A different stadium, different sounds, different sights, but ultimately a familiar result. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Tim Spiers is a football journalist for The Athletic, based in London. He joined in 2019 having previously worked at the Express & Star in Wolverhampton. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimSpiers