Everton remain six points clear of Liverpool after they fought back from 2-0 down to claim a point in a combative Merseyside derby.
Liverpool had fielded five derby debutants - Sterling, Andre Wisdom, Nuri Sahin, Suso and Joe Allen - with Everton having just two in Kevin Mirallas and Naismith.
That may have contributed to what was a first 45 minutes so open it belied its history of being the oldest and longest-running cross-city rivalry in English football.
There was also the sight of Suarez's reaction to the opening goal as he raced to the dug-out to dive full-length in front of Toffees boss David Moyes after his pre-match comments about players going to ground easily.
Ironically, later in the half, it was one of Moyes' own players Phil Neville who was booked for diving on the edge of Liverpool's penalty area.
Derbies can do strange things to people - highlighted by Neville's diving aberration - and the sight of Tim Howard, one of football's genuine nice guys, hurtling out of his goal in an attempt to get 17-year-old Sterling sent off for what he thought was a second bookable offence was also ungentlemanly and unnecessary.
| Everton | Team Statistics | Liverpool |
| 2 | Goals | 2 |
| 2 | 1st Half Goals | 2 |
| 4 | Shots on Target | 3 |
| 9 | Shots off Target | 8 |
| 3 | Blocked Shots | 2 |
| 9 | Corners | 5 |
| 17 | Fouls | 19 |
| 3 | Offsides | 3 |
| 4 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 78.5 | Passing Success | 76.8 |
| 20 | Tackles | 23 |
| 55 | Tackles Success | 82.6 |
| 56.2 | Possession | 43.8 |
| 59.8 | Territorial Advantage | 40.2 |
| 400 | Total Passes | 314 |
| 34 | Total Crosses | 17 |
| 168 | Lost Balls | 158 |
| 55 | Recoveries | 64 |
| 55.9 | 1st Half Poss. | 44.1 |
| 56.2 | 2nd Half Poss. | 43.8 |
