Neil Jones' Liverpool Special : The Merseyside Derby In Numbers

As derby day looms on Merseyside, like a dark, grey November cloud, the superstitious amongst the Liverpool and Everton faithful will inevitably look for omens; for reasons to believe their side will be the victors come Sunday lunchtime.

Of course the tired-old cliche goes that "form goes out of the window in a derby", and to some extent that is true. To be fair, if form was a good barometer for a derby result, then most would be backing both sides to lose this one.

But here we are, the Merseyside derby, condensed into a series of statistics, just for the number-crunchers.

212 - This is the 212th Merseyside derby. The first came in 1894/95, with Everton winning.

82 - Liverpool have won 82 of the previous 211 meetings.

65 - Everton have managed 65 victories

64 - There have been 64 draws between the sides.

78,299 - Everton's record attendance is 78,299 - achieved against Liverpool at Goodison Park in 1948.

37 - The Merseyside derby is the longest running top-flight derby in England, having been staged since 1962.

27 - The teams have won 27 league titles between them - Liverpool having won 18, Everton 9.

41 - Neville Southall holds the record for individual derby appearances, making 41 between 1981 and 1998.

25 - Ian Rush is the derby's all-time leading scorer, netting 25 times for Liverpool against Everton.

19 - Everton's all-time top derby scorer is the legendary "Dixie" Dean, who scored 19 times against the old enemy.

18 - Danny Cadamarteri is the youngest recorded goalscorer in a Merseyside derby, scoring in 1997 aged 18 years and 6 days

4 - Of the current sides, both Steven Gerrard and Tim Cahill boast four derby-day strikes, more than any other player.

2 - Two players - David Johnson and Peter Beardsley - have scored for both sides in a Merseyside derby.

7 - Liverpool have won seven of the last nine derby matches at Goodison Park in the Premier League.

11 - Steven Gerrard made his debut for Liverpool eleven years ago this Sunday, as a substitute in a 3-1 win over Blackburn at Anfield.

2 - Fernando Torres needs two more goals to reach 50 league goals for Liverpool. If he manages to score them in the next 12 games, he will be Liverpool's fastest ever half-centurion.

30 - Thirty players have moved between the two clubs. The most recent was Abel Xavier in 2002.

0 - Liverpool are yet to keep a clean sheet away from home in the Premier League this season.

So, if you are looking for omens, get your money on Gerrard or Cahill to score, do not bank on a Liverpool clean sheet, and if Ian Rush turns up, expect a Liverpool win, and a hat-trick for the Welshman!