Why Liverpool won't lose sleep over a postponed derby day at Everton

It was shortly after 8am on Saturday when Liverpool learned that the 245th staging of England’s most-played derby had been postponed.

Arne Slot and his players had spent Friday night at the city’s Titanic Hotel as Storm Darragh battered Merseyside. With 70mph winds damaging buildings and several roads blocked by fallen trees, the Safety Advisory Group, which includes police and council representatives, had little option but to call the game off due to concerns over fan safety.

What would have been a real test of Liverpool’s Premier League title credentials in dreadful conditions turned into a day off for them to spend with their families. Slot’s squad will reconvene at Kirkby on Sunday to start preparations for Tuesday’s Champions League clash away to La Liga side Girona.

After all the anticipation ahead of what would have been the last league derby at Goodison Park, the feeling was anticlimactic. Liverpool’s inactivity means that their lead at the top of the league will be cut to four points if either Arsenal or Chelsea win on Sunday.

However, given the circumstances, the postponement of this Merseyside derby may prove to be a blessing in disguise for Slot’s side.

An unexpected six-day break between games has to be welcomed given the gruelling nature of the schedule and how the Liverpool squad is already feeling the strain. There were certainly signs of fatigue in last Wednesday’s chaotic 3-3 draw at Newcastle United when they looked so vulnerable defensively and lacked their usual control in midfield.

The trip to Spain to face Girona kicks off a run of six matches in the space of 19 days, with Fulham at home in the league, Southampton away in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, Tottenham away, Leicester City at home and West Ham United away before the turn of the year.

There are no guarantees but when the rearranged derby takes place in 2025, Liverpool’s injury situation shouldn’t be as bleak as it is currently.

Alisson, Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas are all sidelined. Slot stated on Friday that Alisson, Jota and Chiesa are “close” to being considered for selection again with Konate, Bradley and Tsimikas “a bit further away”.

Alexis Mac Allister would have been suspended against Everton on Saturday but will instead serve his one-match domestic ban against Fulham next weekend. With the World Cup winner also serving a European ban against Girona on Tuesday, Mac Allister won’t have played for a fortnight by the time Liverpool go to Southampton on December 18. That should do him good given the scale of his workload for both club and country.

Ryan Gravenberch had played the full 90 minutes in all of Liverpool’s 18 Premier League and Champions League matches before being substituted midway through the second half at St James’ Park. The Netherlands international, who has shone so brightly at the base of Slot’s midfield this season, looked shattered and will also benefit from some much-needed rest.

Unless a spare weekend opens up in February or March due to both Liverpool and Everton exiting the FA Cup early, it’s likely to be a midweek date at Goodison when the teams belatedly meet. The Anfield derby is already scheduled for midweek in early April, raising the prospect of two high-stakes showdowns in relatively close proximity.

Goodison under the lights is noisier and more intimidating than a lunchtime kick-off, but Saturday’s howling wind and rain would certainly have better suited Everton’s more direct approach. Given the wind would have amplified the hosts’ threat from set pieces, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will surely have breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been a lottery in those conditions.

Slot will have to wait for the opportunity to become the first Liverpool manager in history to beat Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City at the first time of asking. Players eager to avenge that wretched derby defeat at Goodison in April — Everton’s first on home turf for 14 years — will also have to sit tight.

As the storm raged, Liverpool put their feet up. It’s a break they didn’t ask for but it should help them in their quest to rise to the challenges ahead.

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)