For years now, the Merseyside derby previews penned for World Soccer Talk have been about Everton puffing their chest out and proactively wrestling back some initiative from local rivals, Liverpool.

Sadly, for those who favor the blue half of the city, that shift in dynamic has never happened.

It’s a due to a mindset which is too severely entrenched in Everton’s make-up at this juncture. After all, while Liverpool have typically boasted the better players, there have been many occasions where the Toffees have gone into this game with momentum, as strong a squad and with in-form stars.

And yet, with new managers, playing personnel, staff and supporters going in and out of the door at Goodison Park, an inferiority complex has lingered for years.

Everton, as a football club, just don’t seem to have it within them to rid themselves of it; that’s been a sad recent realization for a lot of the team’s long-suffering supporters, one which was probably cemented with the meek surrender in the FA Cup semi-final against the Reds in 2012.

So maybe external factors aligning is the only way the Toffees are going to get a foothold in this rivalry? And on the cusp of the latest edition of this fixture, it may well be happening.

Indeed, it’s been a peculiar era for Liverpool. Emotions have oscillated wildly in recent seasons, as a thrilling title challenge was sandwiched by some campaigns rife with tepid, tiring football; they even lost their skipper and Everton’s long-term nemesis last summer, Steven Gerrard, and with his departure, their last regular first-team player with Merseyside roots.

SEE MORE: Steven Gerrard’s red card caps off career that promised so much more.

While Gerrard was a faded force on the field in his final season at Anfield, you can bet those supporters making the short trip across Stanley Park on Sunday would love to have him in side for this one. The former captain oozed scouse bullishness in derby clashes and his influence galvanised those around him.

Gerrard was regularly the big story in a game which is probably the most tribal in England. Everton, perhaps indulging in their inferiority complex, often looked to combat the influence of players like him with an aggressive approach, unable to detach themselves from the passion of the occasion. Their recent results, no win against Liverpool since 2010, point to how well that’s worked.

There’s been a different feeling coming into recent derby matches, though, and especially this one, a game in which Ross Barkley is likely to be the only starter for either side from Merseyside.

SEE MORE: Ross Barkley remains one of England’s brightest stars, but must learn from a turbulent campaign

Passions will run high in the stands and most likely for fans in work in the days bookending this huge local occasion. But the two matches last season, aside from some faux outrage from Jordan Henderson, were relatively incident free. They were calculated, tactical duels, far removed from the pugnacious squabbles we’ve seen down the years.

As the rivalry’s underdogs, that shift is not something you’d naturally expect to enhance Everton’s chances. The standard blueprint for beating sides who are superior is to make the match frantic, inflammatory and forceful. But in a fixture which has seen more red cards than any other in the Premier League, Everton leaving this approach behind would make for a refreshing and necessary change.

Especially with a manager like Roberto Martinez at the helm. The Catalan is a coach who preaches the importance of having a calm head on the pitch and this season, has got Everton playing a clinical, almost callous style of football. If that attitude can be preserved in the derby, the Toffees which be much better placed to pick up a result.

SEE MORE: Roberto Martinez getting Everton supporters back onside after defiant start to season

It’s a dispassionate approach which should be easier to conserve going forward. As aforementioned, the fixture has been diluted of local players; even Barkley is a tepid lad, unlikely to launch into tackles or gee up the crowd. Characters who stoked the flames in seasons gone by like Gerrard, Tim Cahill, Jamie Carragher and Duncan Ferguson are scarce in the current set-ups.

Martinez hasn’t quite got the derby balance right yet. In his first derby, Everton were magnificent but unable to strike the right blend between attacking and defending, drawing 3-3; that was backed up by an appalling 4-0 loss at Anfield and, perhaps with that chastening defeat in mind, conservative approaches in both of last season’s games, clogging the midfield with Muhamed Besic, James McCarthy and Gareth Barry.

An attacking side on Sunday would send a message that this is an Everton team with renewed intentions to go toe-to-toe with a ropey Liverpool. Not in a confrontational sense, but a pure footballing one. That the Blues are here to play, not to fight.

It’s imperative they do perform if the club is to move forward. It may only be 90 minutes in a season of twists and turns, but derby matches can propel teams onto new heights, represent major turning points in seasons and lift the mood of everyone at the football club. By contrast, coping with two underwhelming showings every season is a major drain on morale.

The English game is gradually moving away from blood and thunder clashes, which may take something away from matches which are traditionally bewitchingly volatile. But for Everton, the changing face of football in this country and on Merseyside may well be the catalyst the club needs to finally break the Reds’ stranglehold on this fixture.

Follow Matt on Twitter @MattJFootball