Everton turn the table blue

SO HERE IT COMES. The big one. The crunch. Le grand fromage. The mother of all battles. A city derby with bells on. A true Premiership clash of giants. The game of the season. Maybe even the game of the century.

Certainly, the biggest game ever since, well, the last one.

Yes, it’s Everton v Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.

Alright, alright, agreed, there’s a certain game in North London tomorrow which looks set to eclipse all that has gone before it this season but, if we’re truthful, it’s not only in Liverpool that you’ll find people who think the game at Goodison is worthy of as much attention as the clash of the Gunners and the Pensioners.

After all, in a flanking movement that may have taken even themselves by surprise, Everton are approaching the halfway mark just one point behind Arsenal and six adrift of Chelsea, meaning that anything less than a win for the home side at Highbury, coupled with an Everton success in the Merseyside derby, would see David Moyes’ team leapfrog into second place, turning the top of the table distinctly blue.

It wasn’t meant to be like this, of course, with most pundits predicting Everton would struggle to escape the relegation zone. But not only have Moyes and company proved that there is life after Wayne Rooney, they’ve also shown that you can sustain a high level of success in the Premiership without stacking a side full of bank-breaking household names.

The capable and astute Moyes deserves enormous credit for the way he has maximised his resources, blending old warhorses and good young ’uns to great effect. Irish fans will need no reminding of the resurgent form this past year of Kevin Kilbane, while his former colleague in a green shirt, Lee Carsley, has also contributed hugely to the cause. (We all know how the Goodison faithful have taken ‘Zinedine Kilbane’ to their hearts but how long will it be before they’re wearing t-shirts proclaiming ‘Bend it like Carsley’?). The lively Tim Cahill too can be relied upon to add a touch of real invention but the player of the season for the blues has probably been the Dane, Thomas Gravesen, whom no less an authority than Con Houlihan assures me he would have in his Premiership XI, alongside Roy Keane. And for Moyes to be still able to get something useful out of the player once known as ‘Duncan Disorderly’ bespeaks a mastery of man-managment of an almost supernatural order.

The aforementioned Mr Houlihan made his observation about Gravensen as we watched Liverpool v Olympiakos on the box. It ended up as one of those red-letter nights in Anfield history - somebody even mentioned St Etienne with Neil Mellor as David Fairclough - but strip away the excitement of the sensational climax and you were still left with a patchy performance that was substantially short of what is needed at the highest level in the Premiership, never mind Europe.

In a way, Liverpool’s Jekyll and Hyde display was personified by Steven Gerrard whose heroic intervention at the death served to obscure a performance that was often indifferent and which occasionally bordered on the self-destructive. The example he showed in striking the glorious winner is much more the kind of leadership he needs to bring to a Liverpool side which, unlike its city rivals, has yet to develop any kind of consistent rhythm.

Still, that critical third goal on Wednesday night means Liverpool go into the Merseyside derby with heads high and a season ahead of them still rich in promise. How ridiculously narrow, sometimes, is the margin between glory and gloom. Form over the campaign as a whole suggests Everton should hold the whip-hand but, coming off the back of one huge result, another Liverpool victory could tip the balance of possibility back towards Anfield. Either way, you sense that this is a derby where the stakes are even higher than usual - both sides could yet look back on this game as a pivotal moment in their seasons.

One thing we can say for sure is that the outcome won’t decide the title - any more than will the result at Highbury, where Arsenal play host to Chelsea in what is easily the most mouth-watering clash of the season to date. There is always a tendency to invest a big game with even more importance than its immediate significance suggests but, whatever happens tomorrow - and the force is currently with Chelsea - it will still be way too early for any of the top four to start making space in the trophy cabinet.

While the likes of Duff, Robben and Lampard have soaked up the rave reviews, the increasingly impressive John Terry at the back has been a no less significant figure in a Chelsea side which has now unlocked its attacking to potential to build on the defensive fortitude that was there from day one.

But they have yet to have their strength tested in real adversity. Manchester United have had it, Arsenal have had it and if not now then sometime soon we can expect Chelsea to contract a dose of the dreaded ‘blip’. But like a potent flu jab, a victory over their closest rivals would go a long way to seeing them through the worst the winter months might throw at them.