Billy Gilmour, Ross Barkley and Mason Mount formed the engine room of the side that so impressively dismantled Everton in our most recent match, and we believe it was the first time in over a decade we started a game with an all-British midfield.
Another homegrown, Reece James, showcased his versatility in the holding role when he replaced Mount for the final half-hour.
Allowing for debate about positional roles, we believe the most recent UK-only midfield to start a game was in the League Cup against Leicester on 31 October 2007: Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steve Sidwell, Frank Lampard and Scott Sinclair.
In the league, you have to go back to a match at Leeds on 8 April 1998, featuring Eddie Newton, Dennis Wise and current assistant coach Jody Morris at the heart of a 3-5-2 formation.
Successive Scouser success
After last Sunday the Blues are unbeaten in 25 top-flight encounters with the Toffees at the Bridge since December 1994. That equals the club’s record undefeated home league run against Tottenham, set between 1993 and 2016.
The Everton victory also meant the Blues had beaten both Merseyside clubs in the same week for only the third time in our history, each 14 years apart, and this time only a few months after a similarly rare north London away league ‘double’ eight days apart in December.
Same-week Merseyside ‘doubles’
1992Sun 26 Jan - Everton h - FAC R4 1-0 (Allen)Sat 1 Feb - Liverpool a - D1 2-1 (Jones, Wise)
2006Sun 5 Feb - Liverpool h - PL 2-0 (Gallas, Crespo)Wed 8 Feb - Everton h - FAC R4 4-1 (Robben, Lampard p, Crespo, Terry)
2020Tue 3 Mar - Liverpool h - FAC R5 2-0 (Willian, Barkley)Sun 8 Mar - Everton h - PL 4-0 (Mount, Pedro, Willian, Giroud)
Frank Lampard played in both those 2006 games and scored a penalty in one of them. In fact, he netted 10 goals when playing the Toffees, the third-highest total against any club during his Blues career. One of his very best is in the compilation below...