Jamie Carragher once spoke of seeing ‘fear’ on the faces of Everton players in the Anfield tunnel, which said they were beaten even before kick-off.
Yet as they line up on Sunday under that famous sign first erected by Bill Shankly, Liverpool’s team will not see intimidation in the fiercely-set features of the man who leads out their opponents... but belief and defiance.
That is the message from new Blues boss Sam Allardyce , who struck a defiant note himself in the build-up to his first Merseyside derby , by laughing off suggestions his players will be too scared to compete.
“We’ve got Wayne Rooney, haven’t we? Wayne has seen and done it all before, so he’s got a big part to play in that if we’re going down the tunnel against Liverpool,” he said.
“I would think that he’d be able to handle that. I know he’s back at Everton, and it’s Everton v Liverpool, but there have been lots of games called Manchester United v Liverpool that he’s been involved in and he has to use that.
“It’s very similar. As an Evertonian he is desperate to do well, as he was when he was at Manchester United and was desperate to beat them then. They have a rivalry and while he was there Manchester United were better than Liverpool for the vast majority of the time.”
Allardyce knows his new team are up against it against a strike-force he concedes is the most deadly in the Premier League right now.
He has had just a week to prepare a side that has shown a fragile confidence this season, and an ability to self-destruct if they go a goal behind.
Yet he believes the experience of Rooney offers his side precisely the sort of outlet and threat they will need to stick to a gameplan of playing deep and breaking swiftly, which brought him a win at Anfield with Palace last season... the last time Liverpool lost there.
“Everton is his club and he can use all that experience to deliver the kind of performance he gave against West Ham and that would please me an awful lot,” the manager added.
“It would mean it would give us a chance to create and score a goal with that type of performance.”
For Allardyce, Rooney’s temperament will be the key for his team.
The former England skipper has always shown passion and desire, but also down-to-earth quality that makes gives him hunger, even at this stage of his career.
“He’s lasted as long as he has and is still as good as he is because he is the same guy he’s always been, I think. He doesn’t have any edge about him. He’s not arrogant,” he said.
“He loves his football. He doesn’t like being left out even though he’s 32. It’s always ‘I want to play’ and that attitude is music to your ears. For all the fame he’s achieved, and you do change over the years, he is still quite modest.”
It is not just the Everton manager who believes Rooney has the quality still to burst Liverpool’s bubble, even after their incredible goal-scoring exploits in recent weeks.
For Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, the threat is obvious.
“Since I’ve been here, he didn’t have the best time at Man United but he still scored the winner against us. He’s still a fantastic player and he’s shown that,” Klopp said.
“I’m not sure if it’s allowed but I like Wayne Rooney as a person. I’ve always liked him as a player. I would be silly not to worry about him - I have all the respect you need for playing against this football team.
“It’s not about what I say, we need to show that respect on the pitch by defending in the right way and playing them in the right way.”