In-form Everton Under-23 striker Anthony Gordon agrees with manager David Unsworth that his side's 2-0 win at Anfield last season was the highlight of the Blues' title-winning campaign and he’s hoping for a similar outcome on Saturday.
“Yes, it’s the one that sticks out for me too,” the 18-year old concurred. “It was definitely the most enjoyable game to win. They had a few fans on the Kop, it was my first time playing at Anfield and to go there and win the way we did was amazing.
“They had a strong team out and beating them gave us a massive confidence boost. It would be better if this one was at Anfield but it doesn’t really affect us either way.”
Gordon will be among friends at the Liverpool Academy on Saturday, having played with and against many of the Reds players at club and international level. But he insists that personal relationships won’t mean a thing come kick-off at 2pm.
“I know a lot of them, in fact almost all of them, and we may be friends but when we play each other we want to win," said Gordon.
"It’s a derby game and all you think about is wanting to win, you don’t think about what it will be like when you next meet up for an international game.
“Once the fixtures come out, this is always the one you’re looking for. They have an edge to them because these games are not just competitive at first-team level, all our teams want to be better than them.
“When I was younger my derby record wasn't the best but as I’ve got older it’s started to level out.”
Quite apart from local pride, Gordon is fully aware there are three important points to play for. Everton will start the game in fourth position in Premier League 2 after a 4-1 defeat at leaders Derby County last time out. The Toffees are seven points adrift of The Rams but with a game in hand.
“We haven’t played as well as we wanted in the past two matches, especially against Derby County,” he admitted. “But winning a derby would be the best way to come back from that.”
Gordon goes into this weekend's game as Everton’s top scorer this season and most of his seven goals have been very impressive strikes. He therefore hesitates for a moment or two when invited to select his favourite.
“The Mansfield one, I think,” he grins.
That was when Gordon received the ball 30 yards out against Mansfield Town in the Leasing.com Trophy and promptly jinked his way past a couple of defenders before curling an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net.
“I was enjoying the game and we were playing well but just couldn’t score,” recalled Gordon, before modestly adding: “It was a decent goal but that’s what my job is. The likes of Dennis [Adeniran] say to me before games. ‘Show us some magic’ and hopefully I did.”
Adeniran and the rest of David Unsworth’s Under 23 squad will be hoping for another trick or two from Anthony Gordon on Saturday.
