Here are our player ratings from the Merseyside derby stalemate.

Cancelling Christmas isn’t an obvious means of ingratiating yourself with a raft of new employees but it appears that Sam Allardyce can do no wrong at Everton where the latest chapter in one of British football’s most intriguing careers has kicked off on the most promising of intros.

Wayne Rooney's first Merseyside derby goal earned Everton a draw at Anfield as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's selection gamble backfired.

...but a bad one for Huddersfield and Swansea.

WATFORD 'HUGE' FOR ME, UNSWORTH ADMITS AFTER EVERTON CRASH OUT OF EUROPA LEAGUE

Everton boss Ronald Koeman was forced to endure more disappointment as Lyon consigned his side to an ill-tempered defeat and more Europa League misery.

Wayne Rooney’s 200th career league goal was cancelled out by Raheem Sterling as Pep Guardiola and his 10-man City received a timely reminder of how tough this season will be.

Wayne Rooney scored his 200th Premier League goal but Raheem Sterling came off the bench to snatch a 1-1 draw for Manchester City against Everton.

Everton hold a 2-0 lead in their Europa League qualifying play-off tie against Hajduk Split after a first leg at Goodison Park that had to be temporarily stopped due to crowd trouble in the away section.

Everton 1 MFK Ruzomberok 0: Wayne Rooney’s Everton return threatened to turn into embarrassment last night before captain Leighton Baines struck to give his side a slender first-leg lead in their Europa League third qualifying round clash with Ruzomberok.

Wayne Rooney scored his second pre-season goal for Everton in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Genk.

The clock may be ticking at Everton for Ross Barkley but the midfielder's timely intervention ensured a winning end to their season at Goodison Park with a 1-0 victory over Watford.

Swansea climbed out of the relegation zone and left Hull back in the bottom three after a 1-0 win over Everton at the Liberty Stadium.

Last week’s truncated set of fixtures left some Fantasy Premier League managers delighted. Others... not so much.

Pep Guardiola suffered his heaviest league defeat as a manager as Everton dealt Manchester City a serious title blow with a 4-0 win at Goodison Park.

Everton 3, Southampton 0: On-loan striker Enner Valencia may have given Everton manager Ronald Koeman one less thing to think about in the January transfer window after his game-changing substitute appearance in the 3-0 victory over Southampton.

Romelu Lukaku’s agent Mino Raiola claims a new contract is “99.9%” done but offered no guarantees the striker would stay at Everton long-term.

Sturridge still has vital role to play

Stefano Okaka scored his first goals for Watford as Everton's miserable run continued with a 3-2 defeat at Vicarage Road.

Sunderland 0 Everton 3

Everton manager Roberto Martinez insists he understands the frustration of a fan who confronted him on the pitch.

Under-fire Roberto Martinez insists the growing discontent among Everton supporters is not having a detrimental effect on his team.

Manchester City 3 Everton 1 (Man City win 4-3 on aggregate): Manchester City controversially came from behind on the night to overturn a first-leg deficit and reach the Capital One Cup final with a 4-3 aggregate win over Everton.

Tom Cleverley snatched victory at Newcastle with the last touch of the game as Everton finally made the pressure count.

Norwich 1 Everton 1: Roberto Martinez believes Everton must learn to be more ruthless at each end of the pitch after allowing Norwich to fight back to what looked an unlikely draw.

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku scored for a seventh straight game but Norwich responded to earn a deserved 1-1 draw in the Premier League clash at Carrow Road

Everton 1 Crystal Palace 1: Romelu Lukaku’s 50th goal in Everton blue rescued a point for Roberto Martinez’s side as both clubs continued their chase for European football in this most unpredictable of Premier League seasons.

As a teetotaller, Seamus Coleman couldn’t even drown his sorrows at missing out on featuring at the last two international tournaments.

Eden Hazard says Chelsea are finding life as Premier League champions challenging as “everyone wants to kill you”.

EVERTON 2 WATFORD 2:

Ireland full-back Seamus Coleman has admitted things could get spicy when he squares up against Everton team-mate Steven Naismith on Saturday week.

West Ham United 1 Everton 2: West Ham manager Sam Allardyce remained bullish about his future after a last-gasp Romelu Lukaku goal spoiled potentially his final home match in charge.

Sunderland striker Danny Graham’s first goal for the club may have been a fluke but its significance could not be under-estimated as the Black Cats took another step towards Premier League survival.

EVERTON 3 MANCHESTER UNITED 0: There was no Grim Reaper accosting the Manchester United manager, as had been the case when David Moyes visited Goodison a little over a year ago in his final game in the job.

Jamie Carragher, a childhood Everton supporter turned Liverpool legend, says that the one player currently in blue he’d love to see playing in red is Irish international James McCarthy.

Home is where the heart is, and James McCarthy helped domestic bliss finally return to Goodison Park for Evertonians.

Boss Roberto Martinez feels Everton have "10 finals" ahead of them in the Premier League — but has emphasised that the focus for now must be on tonight’s Europa League last-16 first leg against Dynamo Kiev.

Leighton Baines returns to the starting XI as Everton look to follow up their impressive win over Young Boys with another victory against Leicester at Goodison Park.

Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has avoided major controversy in his short spell at Anfield, but even he cannot have imagined a match-winning penalty would create such a fuss.

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard is set to make his return to action in Wednesday’s Barclays Premier League away clash with Chelsea.

Liverpool teenager Jordon Ibe was handed only his second Barclays Premier League start in the 224th Merseyside derby as one of three changes at Goodison Park.

Everton defender Leighton Baines admits the forthcoming warm-weather training break is a chance for players to generate a greater team spirit.