The All-Time Top Scorers in the Merseyside Derby

While different London derbies crop up with promotion and relegation, and Leeds United's return to the top flight has thrown the Pennines derby back into the big time, the Merseyside derby remains at the top of the ladder. And with Everton now looking much improved under Carlo Ancelotti, things are perhaps as close as they've ever been between the Toffees and red-nosed neighbours Liverpool in quite some time.

To put the derby into context, Anfield and Goodison Park sit less than a mile away from each other; walking distance with a few pints of alcohol in the system.

It's a timeless classic that's given football some memorable moments. To score in one of these games is special; here are the elite who've managed to make the top 30 scorers of all time in the Merseyside derby.

30. Matthew Pennington - 1

There are plenty of players who've scored just the one Merseyside derby goal, but we've decided to give some love to the most random of them all: Matthew Pennington.

Somehow, Pennington is still an Everton player. The less said about that, the better.

He scored an equaliser against the Reds at Anfield in April 2017, which also happened to be his first Merseyside derby and his first Premier League goal.

Should've retired right there.

29. Michael Keane (Everton) - 2

Keane has bagged twice in the Merseyside derby thus far for Everton, scoring two bullet headers.

Judging by his love of a derby goal, expect him to creep up this list in the very near future.

28. Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) - 4

Daniel Sturridge - the man with everyone's favourite celebration - brings us into the proper numbers with four Merseyside derby strikes.

Three of those four goals all came in the 2013/14 season, his first full campaign with the Reds, and all were crucial. One came to salvage a point in a 3-3 draw, while the other two came in a 4-0 romping of Everton at Anfield. That brace could've been a derby hat-trick...had he not have smashed a penalty over the bar.

27. Roy Vernon (Everton) - 4

Vernon was the ultimate 60s rock 'n' roll footballer. When he wasn't lighting cigarettes in the tunnel before and after a game, he was smashing in goals for fun at Everton.

He bagged four in the Merseyside derby throughout his career, including a brace that won Everton the game in the1963/64 season.

26. Sam Raybould (Liverpool) - 4

Making his mark on pre-First World War football, Sam Raybould was scoring in Merseyside derbies before it was even cool to do so.

Plying his trade as a centre forward, Raybould set a record by scoring 31 goals in a season in 1901/02, two of which came against the Toffees that campaign.

25. Michael Owen (Liverpool) - 4

Michael Owen showed his class in Merseyside Derby's as Liverpool's wonderkid in the early 2000s and scored a sublime solo effort in the 2001/02 season.

One of the many great goals Owen scored before he upped sticks to join Real Madrid.

24. Tommy Lawton (Everton) - 4

Despite his tenure with the club being interrupted by participation in the Second World War, Tommy Lawton still managed to achieve legendary status as a striker in English football and is regarded as one of the greatest to do it for Everton.

Not only did he successfully fill the boots of fellow legend Dixie Dean, he put four goals past Liverpool as an Everton player in the process. Iconic.

23. Duncan Ferguson (Everton) - 4

Footballers simply don't come like Duncan Ferguson anymore.

Four Merseyside derby goals, nine career red cards and one career prison sentence.

Cut him open and he'll bleed Everton blue. Good luck trying, though.

22. Roger Hunt (Liverpool) - 5

One of the greatest to ever lace them up for Liverpool, Roger Hunt remains their record league goal scorer with 244 strikes.

Hunt plied his trade through the 60s and his strike in the 1966 Charity Shield proved to be the winning goal for Liverpool.

21. Luis Suarez (Liverpool) - 5

Aggressive, passionate and obscenely talented, Suarez quickly became an Anfield legend during his three-year stay and bagged the equaliser in an eventual Merseyside derby victory at Wembley, in the 2012 FA Cup semi-final.

He also had David Moyes on strings with a diving celebration right in front of the Everton bench in October of that year. Iconic.

20. Divock Origi (Liverpool) - 5

Divock Origi popped up with a dramatic late winner in the derby in 2018, and he's surprisingly scored more goals against Everton than both Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.

Cult hero.

19. Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool) - 5

Another player for the big occasion, Dirk Kuyt loved a game against the Toffees.

The intimidating Dutchman popped up with a dramatic header to steal a derby win for Liverpool in 2010, bagging his 50th goal for the club in the process.

18. Jack Taylor (Everton) - 5

Jack Taylor made the move to Everton from his native Scotland in 1896 and would go on to make 136 consecutive appearances for the club.

He won the FA Cup with the club in 1906, but his career ended in bizarre fashion in the 1910 final when he was struck in the neck, damaging his larynx.

17. Fred Howe (Liverpool) - 5

Fred Howe played prior to the Second World War but left a legacy for the Reds by putting four past Everton in a 6-0 thrashing in 1935.

16. Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool) - 5

King Kenny bagged 172 goals in 515 games for the Reds and is the undisputed king of Liverpool.

Dalglish put five past Everton during his time as a Liverpool player and was player-manager when Liverpool beat their neighbours in the 1986 FA Cup final.

15. Tim Cahill (Everton) - 5

Australia, but an Evertonian at heart, Tim Cahill is one of Everton's most prolific post-war player in the Merseyside derby, and bagged an all-important late equaliser at Anfield in 2009 that stopped Liverpool from going top of the league.

14. Sadio Mane (Liverpool) - 5

Sadio Mane's strike after two minutes and 15 seconds against Everton in October 2020 is the fastest ever goal scored in the Merseyside derby.

It wasn't enough to secure all three points, but it was yet another reminder of how undeniably world class the Senegal international is.

13. Gordon Hodgson (Liverpool) - 6

Six derby strikes came and 241 goals for Liverpool's all-time third top scorer Gordon Hodgson, who was also a fast bowler for Lancashire alongside in the 1930s. Talented guy.

12. Bobby Parker (Everton) - 6

Scotsman Bobby Parker finished top scorer of the first division in Everton's title-winning 1914/15 campaign, but was seriously injured when serving in the First World War.

11. Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) - 6

Robbie Fowler made himself a legend at Anfield over two spells with the club, and enjoyed two standout derbies in the 1990s.

His late winner in 1994 as an 18-year-old was his first game back following a broken leg and secured Liverpool the win in the 150th derby fixture, while his goal in 1999 was followed up with a controversial celebration that involved him pretending to snort the goal line, and resulted in a hefty ban.

10. Jack Balmer (Liverpool) - 6

Jack Balmer also saw his career interrupted by the Second World War, but it didn't stop him racking up 312 appearances in total for the Reds.

9. Graeme Sharp (Everton) - 6

Sharp scored the opening goal in Everton's 1984 FA Cup final victory and remains Everton's post-war top scorer with 160 strikes.

Of the 160, his most memorable was a razor sharp volley at Anfield in October 1984 that gave Everton their first win at the ground in 14 years.

8. Peter Beardsley (Liverpool & Everton) - 7

The first and only player in the list to snoop behind enemy lines, Peter Beardsley swapped the Reds for the Blues in 1991 when he signed for Everton at 30 years old.

Six of his seven derby goals came for Liverpool, but he did bag once for Everton in the fixture too.

7. Jack Parkinson (Liverpool) - 8

Jack Parkinson won the Second Division - yes, the actual second tier - with Liverpool in the 1904/05 season and was a regularly prolific scorer for the Reds, but retired in 1914 to become a newsagent.

6. Jimmy Settle (Everton) - 8

Signing for Everton for a whopping £400 in 1899, Jimmy Settle bagged eight goals across Merseyside derby fixtures during a nine year stay with the Toffees.

5. Harry Chambers (Liverpool) - 8

Chambers was the go-to man for Liverpool after the First World War and bagged a hat-trick against the Toffees in a 5-1 thrashing in October 1922.

4. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - 10

Who else to break us into double figures than Steven Gerrard?

The Liverpool legend has seen it all in the age-old fixture, but perhaps most memorably marked his 400th Liverpool appearance in 2012 with a hat-trick against Everton at Anfield.

3. Alex 'Sandy' Young (Everton) - 12

Sandy Young remains Everton's fourth top scorer of all time and scored the only goal which won them the FA Cup final in 1906, but endured a troubled life following football and passed in 1959 in an Edinburgh mental institution.

2. Dixie Dean (Everton) - 19

Truly ahead of his time, Dixie Dean is an all-time great.

He still holds the record for scoring an astounding 60 league goals in the 1927/28 season and remains Everton's all-time top scorer to this day.

1. Ian Rush (Liverpool) - 20

Topping the list is Liverpool icon Ian Rush.

He famously equalled Fred Howe's 1935 Merseyside derby four goal haul with one of his own in November 1982 as the Reds stormed to a 5-0 victory.