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Brendan Rodgers has urged his Liverpool players to forget about the past and focus on making Merseyside derby history of their own.

Tomorrow will be 15 years since Everton last tasted victory at Anfield courtesy of Kevin Campbell’s solitary strike.

Since then Liverpool have dominated the fixture – winning seven and drawing seven of the last 14 league derbies on home turf, including January’s remarkable 4-0 demolition.

The Reds have lost just three of the last 29 Premier League meetings between the clubs and those setbacks were all at Goodison.

Yet despite that stranglehold on English football’s most played derby, Rodgers doesn’t believe Liverpool hold a psychological edge going into the latest showdown with Roberto Martinez’s side.

With as many as six derby debutants in the Reds’ starting line up, the boss says past glories will count for nothing.

“I don’t think that gives us any particular edge,” Rodgers told the ECHO.

“Every time there’s a game between the two clubs there is a stat that’s relevant somewhere.

“But I don’t pay too much attention to what’s gone before.

“I haven’t been here for all those 15 years. The two teams are different now and the set-ups are different. Clubs change from year to year.

“We had a great result in the derby at Anfield last season but we can’t rely on what we’ve achieved in these fixtures previously. This side need to make their own derby history.”

Summer signings Dejan Lovren, Javier Manquillo, Alberto Moreno, Adam Lallana and Mario Balotelli are all expected to start against the Blues. Lazar Markovic could also get the nod.

Rodgers insists they all have sufficient experience to be able to handle the size of the occasion.

At the age of 20, Manquillo is the youngest of Liverpool’s derby debutants but he lined up for Atletico Madrid against Real Madrid last season.

“All the players are well aware of what’s at stake,” Rodgers said.

“We’ve spoken about it. They know about the history of this club and what the derby games mean.

“This is a really special derby and any of our players playing in it for the first time will be ready and prepared.

“They have all played in big games elsewhere so I have no concerns about that.”

With Daniel Sturridge highly unlikely to be fit enough to start, there will be plenty of responsibility resting on Balotelli’s shoulders.

The £16million frontman has yet to get off the mark in the Premier League with his new club and this would the perfect day to put that right.

Liverpool will need Balotelli to keep his cool amid the white-hot atmosphere but Rodgers says that’s a message he has reinforced to his entire squad.

Twenty players have been sent off in the 44 Premier League derbies but there hasn’t been a red card issued in the last six meetings in all competitions.

“There hasn’t been any special talk for Mario, it was a generic one,” Rodgers said.

“They all understand and respect that we need to ensure we keep 11 men on the field.

“You’ve got to be competitive, you’ve got to be strong but you need to also have that composure. It’s vitally important that we keep that.”

Time has been spent at Melwood this week trying to iron out Liverpool’s problems when it comes to defending set-pieces.

That glaring weakness has proved costly against Aston Villa, West Ham and Middlesbrough over the past fortnight and Rodgers expects to see an improvement against the Blues.

“We have looked at it this week. It’s certainly been an area of frustration for us so far,” Rodgers said.

“Our organisation is actually good in the set-piece but it’s about reinforcing principles that are set in place on a weekly basis.

“It’s something we have specifically looked at and an area the players will cope with.

“It comes down to concentration and thinking under pressure. That’s critical from set-pieces.”

Everton have only scored seven goals in their last 14 league trips across Stanley Park and haven’t netted in the first half of an Anfield derby since 2000.

But in Romelu Lukaku they boast a powerful striker with an impressive record against the Reds.

The Belgium international has scored four goals in his last four league appearances against Rodgers’ men, including a double in the thrilling 3-3 derby draw at Goodison last November.

Rodgers needs Lovren and likely centre-back partner Martin Skrtel to keep close tabs on him.

“Lukaku is a good player, who scored in their last league game against Crystal Palace,” he said.

“He’s a talent and a threat when he’s running forward on to the ball.

“We have to deal with that and we know we need to be stronger defensively.”

Last season was heralded as the start of an exciting new era for this fixture with both managers firmly committed to attacking football.

Two memorable contests produced 10 goals and with both backlines having struggled so far this term another open game looks inevitable.

Rodgers wants his players to be bold and positive but says Liverpool’s preparations have also involved plenty of homework on how to negate Everton FC's threat.

“I worry about how we play but I always respect the opponent,” he added,

“We do a lot of analysis and a lot of work on the opponent.

“Of course our players will always go into the game with great confidence and belief that if we can bring our movement patterns and our quality into the game then it will make it really difficult for the opponent.

“But I can’t say that it’s just solely about us. Yeah, the focus and the confidence I give the players can make them feel that but we also do a lot of our homework

“That was another key to our success last season. We imposed our style on teams, but that was after we had done our work to understand where opponents were strong and areas where we felt we could exploit.

“In some games we pressed the ball really high up the field to win it back, sometimes we offered the opponent the ball so we could counter-attack in the spaces behind.

“Those elements tactically are important for us. To order to get them right you have to understand and respect the other team and how they work.

“We’ve worked well this week and now we need to produce. We always expect to do well at Anfield.”