On Wednesday night Everton and Liverpool do battle once again, though this one has significance compared to all others before it. David Moyes and Arne Slot's sides are set up to do battle for the final time on the Goodison Park turf.

For the Reds, it is also a fixture of utmost importance as resting players beforehand proved costly in this season's FA Cup, now the opportunity beckons to move nine points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. Yet to take charge in this fixture, it seems Slot understands perfectly the weight of local rivalry in this fixture tied to the context of the situation.

At his pre-match press conference, he said: "Cool heads but not cool legs. Every time you play against a team that wants to fight with you, this one even more, you have to be ready for that. Don't go over the line but be cool enough to play a good and firm tackle. That's where it starts with.

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"Normally Liverpool get more points against teams around Everton. That tells you how difficult it is. I know derbies are always difficult. Fans bring the best out of players. I have experienced this many times but I hope I don't experience it tomorrow!"

Meanwhile, Everton boss David Moyes was also full of fighting talk in his pre-match press conference. "We’ve always been chasing Liverpool, probably no more so than now," he said.

"I think the gap between the two teams at the moment is probably as big as it’s been for a long time. It’s something I have to try and bridge and start bringing the two clubs closer together. I certainly need to bring my club closer to their club if I can.

"There’s a gulf between what’s going on (regarding transfer comparisons) and everybody’s aware of the situation here and the difficulty. But Everton had a great result against Liverpool last year (winning 2-0 in April) so that’s the way football works.

"I’ve actually seen a bit of unpredictability in the Premier League this year with some of the results, so we have to go out there and try to turn the result around and make sure that we’re the winners."

So, battle lines are drawn all across Merseyside. However, there is the odd instance where one Red or Blue may find themselves behind enemy lines depending on familial ties. In Jamie Carragher's case, it came down to which club he decided to sign for as a teenager.

Now a certified Anfield hero, the former vice-captain and defender with the most appearances made in the club's history was once an Everton supporter in his youth.

He formerly told FourFourTwo: "I was very fortunate that Everton won loads of trophies when I was a kid. I was at Anfield when Graeme Sharp scored a great winner in 1984. We got to the FA Cup final three years in a row between 1984 and 1986, so we came to expect a day out at Wembley every spring.

"I remember being seven years old at Villa Park when Everton beat Luton in the 1985 FA Cup semi-finals. After the game, I managed to get on the pitch, have a quick runabout and celebrate." It was in 'Carra', his autobiography, that he began to explain his gradual switch of allegiances in the 1990s.

"I remember returning with the Liverpool reserve squad from a mid-afternoon game early in 1996 while Everton were playing an FA Cup third round replay at Stockport. The radio match commentary was on as the coach made its way back to Melwood and naturally I was listening to every word and urging Everton to win.

"As Stockport scored, 'One–nil!' shouted Ronnie [Moran], the sense of joy inescapable. Sitting at the back of the coach, I simmered away inside, praying we'd get back into the game. Then my moment came. Everton equalised. I couldn't resist. ‘Get in!’ I screamed. Who the f**k was that?’ shouted Ronnie who, as the first team coach, was still in the dark about my youthful loyalties.

"I wouldn't say it was the cue for a witch hunt, but Ronnie might as well have been holding a pitchfork as he swooped to find the culprit. The next day I was hauled before our youth coaches, Hugh McAuley and Dave Shannon, for one of those 'quiet chats' footballers have to get used to during the course of a career.

"'Listen, Jamie, you've got to sort this out,’ Hughie said to me. ‘The senior staff have high hopes you'll play for the first team. It's time for you to start behaving like a Liverpool player.’ I walked out of that meeting having heard the warning, but it was going to take more than a gentle pep talk to stop me loving Everton."

And it was back in his chat with FourFourTwo that Carragher divulged the moment that tipped over the edge between supporting Everton towards becoming a full-on Kopite.

The now-Sky Sports presenter explained: "It was in 1999, when I was a Liverpool player and we’d been beaten by Manchester United in an FA Cup tie. It was a lunchtime kick-off, and later that afternoon I met some of my friends for a few drinks down the pub.

"It was full of Evertonians who were absolutely delighted Liverpool had lost, and it really annoyed me. Before then I’d become indifferent to Everton’s results, but from that day on I wanted them to get beat!"