The backdrop may have been different, but the Everton fans brought the familiar Goodison Park atmosphere to their new home in the build-up to kick-off.
David Moyes’ side almost made the perfect start, as Beto flicked a header goalwards that was pushed away by the diving Giorgi Mamardashvili.
The Georgian then kept out James Garner’s whipped free-kick before Beto side-footed well wide when he raced through one-on-one, as the Toffees continued to make all the early running.
It took Liverpool until the 21st minute to register their first shot, when Cody Gakpo’s effort was blocked by James Tarkowski.
The Reds were second-best, but the game turned on two incidents in three minutes midway through the half.
First, Iliman Ndiaye thought he had given Everton a 27th-minute lead, but the goal was disallowed after VAR ruled Jake O’Brien was marginally offside in the build-up, denying Ndiaye the distinction of being the first Merseyside derby goalscorer on this ground.
That honour went to Mohamed Salah moments later, as the Egyptian latched onto Gakpo’s brilliant pass to finish first-time and join Steven Gerrard as Liverpool’s joint-highest PL goalscorer in this fixture (9).
Gakpo almost doubled the lead three minutes before half time when he cut inside and unleashed a curling effort that Jordan Pickford had to tip over.
Liverpool started the second half in the ascendancy, but the momentum swung again nine minutes after the break when Beto slid home Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s low cross to score his eighth PL goal of the season.
Mamardashvili was injured in the challenge and had to be replaced by Freddie Woodman, making his PL debut for the Reds - and his first top-flight appearance since September 2021.
The game opened up from there and Gakpo saw a header cleared off the line by Tarkowski before Ndiaye stung the palms of Woodman with a fierce shot from a tight angle.
A late injury to Jarrad Branthwaite meant 11 minutes of stoppage time were added on, and the visitors capitalised as Van Dijk headed home Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner to snatch victory for the Reds.
The victory eases the pressure on under-fire boss Arne Slot, as well as securing a third successive Liverpool victory against their local rivals for the first time since 2017.
The Toffees remain only one point off sixth-placed Chelsea, so are still very much in the hunt for Europe, but this last-gasp defeat will hurt for a long time and leaves them with one win in four matches.