When Sadio Mane netted an injury-time winner against Everton in a 1-0 win for the Kop club at Goodison Park just over 12 months ago, there was such an air of inevitability about it. Toffees fans have become accustomed to so much disappointment in recent years when playing their city neighbours, the feeling was that they expected that to happen. Losing to Liverpool has become a habit, and dare I say it, it doesn’t hurt as much anymore because you know it’s coming. And that’s coming from me, an Evertonian.

Yes, damning but largely true words.

A few months later, last season, then boss Ronald Koeman said he was “proud” of his players after a rather lifeless 3-1 defeat at Anfield. No matter what form Everton take with them across Stanley Park, it’s irrelevant. As soon as the blues step foot behind enemy lines, they go completely into their shell, press the implode button and hand Liverpool all three points – as if the hosts needed much more assistance.

Everton currently have a complete inferiority complex when it comes to facing their great foes, there’s no getting away from it.

Liverpool are undoubtedly a bigger club than Everton – and perhaps the Toffees have been too guilty of always trying to compare themselves to their neighbours. The comparison isn’t there to be had, in all honesty. This game isn’t as big for Liverpool fans as it is for Everton supporters.

While the ‘friendly derby’, as it used to be known, is still very much relevant in terms of this fixture splitting red and blue households, families and friends to the core – it’s been all too embarrassing for the blue half of the city in recent times.

The statistics are so damning against Everton, especially since 2010, it’s unfair on Liverpool to describe the blues as rivals. The Reds have, for most of this period had the better team, but the Anfield club have hardly been winning trophies year in, year out like yesteryear.

Now for some numbers. Everton’s last win at Anfield came way back in September 1999 – since then – they have lost nine and drawn eight of their past 17 visits; the blues have won just one league derby encounter in 21, a 2-0 victory back in October 2010, and Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 14 games against Everton – one short of their longest defeatless stretch which came back in the 1970s.

Steven Gerrard often inspired Liverpool against the blues.

Add in Everton’s ill-discipline in this fixture, too – with the blues having had 14 players sent off in 50 Premier League meetings – compared to Liverpool’s seven – then you can see how they’ve just lost their heads.

They say form goes out of the window in derbies – and it’s true – given Everton have often approached this contest in a strong position in the past, and then got tonked.

David Moyes, throughout his 11-year-long tenure at Goodison, contributed to this psyche tenfold. While he did work wonders at times on a shoestring budget, his team, on several occasions, entered the fixture riding on the crest of a wave.

However, cautious approaches, depressingly so under Moyes – with frequent pre-match references to Everton’s uphill struggle to match Liverpool’s talent on the pitch and financial muscle off of it, to Roberto Martinez’s no game plan style at all led to embarrassing defeats and a couple of 4-0 hammerings for the Spaniard.

You can pick out other moments, too, like 2006 when Steven Gerrard received his marching orders early on and Everton had no idea how to handle that – losing 3-1 – to further ram home the derby inadequacies.

When discussing the mental block Everton have against Liverpool, the biggest game between the two, in recent times has to be mentioned – the 2012 FA Cup semi-final. Everton were 1-0 up at the break at Wembley, following Jamie Carragher’s defensive howler and Nikica Jelavic’s cool finish, and largely dominating. But, come the second-half, Everton lost the bottle, Sylvain Distin set-up Luis Suarez with a worldy of a back-pass assist and Andy Carroll headed in a late winner before extra-time could be called. You just knew Liverpool would win it, oh, that sinking feeling again.

Distin’s back-pass in 2012 turned the cup tiein Liverpool’s favour.

Bringing things back to 2017 and Liverpool fans have right to laugh at Everton’s misplaced spending and summer of optimism, indeed – whenever the Blues seem to be on the cusp of something, their neighbours usurp them and Everton bolt in the other direction.

There’s been many examples throughout the course of history but the 2004-05 season is perhaps the best, with Everton securing fourth spot and Champions League football before the Reds famously won the Champions League in Istanbul – after finishing fifth in the league. It took the gloss off Moyes’ triumph and then Everton failed to get past Villarreal in the qualification phase. I won’t remind you of the incident involving Pierluigi Collina, for fear of upsetting Big Dunc, who might be reading.

But jokes aside, the general point is, all these factors well and truly combine to affect Everton’s psyche and feeling heading into a derby – there’s a block, even for new players who haven’t experienced one before. Everton’s record against Liverpool, no matter which personnel is played, is contagious.

In the 1990s, the Goodison club enjoyed decent success against their neighbours, with Joe Royle’s Dogs of War side often bullying the reds, especially at home. Everton have had better sides and players since then but have recorded woeful results.

It will take some of that spirit and more to overcome a rampant Liverpool on Sunday, but don’t count on it – no matter how much Sam Allardyce’s men park the bus. The fact of the matter is that this match is usually over before a ball has even been kicked – even more so at Anfield. This may all sound like it’s written from a bitter blue, but in truth, I’m just stating the facts of a fixture Evertonians couldn’t be criticised just for writing-off nowadays.

Tim Cahill got one of the goals when Everton last beat Liverpool back in October 2010.