Lots of Everton supporters are upset about the prospect of former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez being appointed their club’s new manager but it seems that the Blues are no longer the biggest rivals in many Reds fans’ eyes.
Following the release of the Premier League fixtures for the 2021/22 season last week, former ex-Liverpool striker Neil Mellor declared that the Merseyside Derbies or the clashes with the Reds old foes from Old Trafford were no longer the fixtures that stood out for Kopites.
Mellor told LFC TV: “You used to look at Everton and Manchester United as our biggest games.
“Manchester City are our biggest rivals. We want to win the league again, take the title.
“It’s Manchester City [who are Liverpool’s biggest game].”
Following his bold claim, we put the question to the ECHO’s readers, ‘Who are Liverpool’s biggest rivals?’
It was certainly an issue that split the fanbase with none of the aforementioned three clubs gaining an outright majority but the results did concur with what Mellor had suggested.
Manchester City came out on top with 47% of votes followed by 34% for Manchester City while neighbours Everton scored just 19%.
It might have been interesting to see if the scores would alter if the question had been phrased differently, like “who do you most fear losing to?” especially with local readers, but it seems that perceptions are shifting.
