BRENDAN RODGERS is looking to today’s Merseyside derby to give his team the same lift as last year’s 4-0 win over Everton.

The victory in January was the start of a run that brought Liverpool 37 points from a possible 39 and rocketed them to the top of the Premier League table.

They would almost certainly have ended their long wait for a league title but for a defeat by Chelsea that ended the run.

Rodgers said: “We haven’t made the best of starts this season but in the like-for-like games last season, we’re only a point different.

“We still have positives from it. We’ve got young players that have been introduced into our team, which is what we look to achieve to try to help them and educate them to come through and play for the first team.

“We go into this game with a great opportunity to get a victory in a derby game, which we will hope can provide a platform for us to go on consistently, like it did last year.”

Rodgers can take a lot of confidence from Liverpool’s recent record in derbies.

The red half of the city has dominated, with Everton failing to win any of the last eight matches, while their winless run at Anfield stretches back 15 years.

The visitors need the points just as much as their rivals after winning only one of their first five league matches, and the encounters rarely disappoint as a spectacle.

Rodgers, who has drawn three and won one of his four derbies, said: “I’ve loved every second of it. They’ve been great, both home and away.

“But of course the performance at Anfield last season was really special because Everton were on a good run of form, they were building and developing well under Roberto (Martinez), and obviously came to Anfield with maybe an eye on winning, and we were exceptional.

“Every aspect of the game, our performance, our counter-attack and our finishing, was fantastic. It’s a really special game between two great football clubs.”