People call it "the friendly derby." But only if they never played in it. When Everton and Liverpool meet, there is no quarter given.
"It's different," says Craig Johnston, the Australian who spent seven years at Anfield in the 1980s. "It's not like other games. You want to hurt each other. The tackles are more brutal, the challenges wilder. It's meatier than other matches."
Merseyside is different. Support for the area's two Premier League clubs is not determined by geographical location, religion, political allegiance or social status. Here, families are split down the middle by football loyalties.