Match Summary
Here’s the lineups.
Everton have taken the lead from a controversial free kick in the middle third and Beto made a great timed run to break the opposition line which was bit deeper thanks to Bradley. The derby game seemed to be difficult one for Liverpool but they showed why they are top of the league by equalising immediately after just five minutes. The game wasn’t totally dominated by Liverpool as Everton effectively caused trouble by closing the middle well. However, due to a bit of delayed reaction to a second ball in the box, Jones had a shot which was deflected into Salah who found the net to give a lead for Liverpool. The final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park had still hidden a drama at the end. Tarkowski scored a stunning volley to equalise from nothing and the game finished with the decent result considering sloppy performance from the league leader.
0-15 mins
“Everton’s prepared FK made the game unpredictable”
Everton started the game really well with long balls and aggressiveness to win the second balls. The first few long balls were delivered towards the tall right fullback Jake O’Brien (6 ft 6 in), who completely neutralised Gakpo throughout the game when defending.
When out of possession, Everton had clear idea with intensity to keep Liverpool away from the own goal. They closed the middle to force Liverpool to play outside and then Everton’s players shifted across to lock them in.
As where Liverpool would play next was really easy to read thanks to the narrow front two, Everton’s wide players and defensive midfielders could apply tight pressure on the opponents. The illustration above shows how Everton won the ball and after this sequence, they earned the free kick and took the lead.
Although Everton tried to lock Liverpool in a compact area, Van Dijk often played long balls to go beyond the opposition midfield line and sometimes Liverpool successfully entered the final third by winning the second balls.
15-30 mins
“Immediate response from the league leader”
It lasted only five minutes until Liverpool found an equaliser and it was their usual pattern.
Salah takes on the opposition fullback and delivers a teasing cross, then there are always runs from some of the midfielders. It already became a trademark of Liverpool under Slot and they keep scoring from this routine.
Even after the equaliser, both teams hadn’t changed how they play but importantly Ndiaye was forced to be taken off due to the injury after 25 minutes of the game.
30-45 mins
“Everton still made it difficult for Liverpool”
As the subtitle says, Everton had still caused trouble for Liverpool by closing the middle in the midfield and playing quick attack with long balls in possession. But in 36:56, Liverpool found the way to play through the middle and gained a corner kick.
(Sorry it is Harrison, not Ndiaye)
Van Dijk successfully found Gravenberch in the middle and he flicked the ball to Szoboszlai who tried to break the last line, and the ball was cleared beyond the goal line. It was a good change of tempo and if Liverpool could do this more, they could’ve created more chances in the game. Gravenberch should’ve made the efforts to be available in the pocket of space between the front two.
Another chance for Everton came from winning the ball high up the pitch. They hardly pressed high, but against the opposition goal kicks, they sometimes organised themselves bit higher than usual.
This looks like Gravenberch’s mistake and partly it is, but really good pressure from Everton paid off.
Even though Liverpool found the net, it wasn’t good half for Liverpool overall.
45-60 mins
“Same picture after the break”
From the kick off of the second half, it was almost same picture from the first half. Liverpool only found the way to progress by playing long and Everton often won the second ball and played counterattacks.
After 15 minutes of the second half, immediately after Bradley was about to be sent off by receiving a second yellow card, Slot made changes to replace him and Gravenberch who couldn’t help the team to play through the middle with Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones.
60-75 mins
“Somehow Salah scored as always”
Everton put the ball into the net from a corner in 67 minutes, but it was ruled out by offside thanks to Robertson who stepped up to set a line higher. After this, Robertson was subbed off with Gakpo and Slot sent Tsimikas and Núñez onto the pitch. It was fair enough to say it didn’t work well in Liverpool’s left side and most of all chances came from Salah in the right.
After this substitution, Díaz moved to left and the second goal came from him. His cross was cleared but Everton’s defenders couldn’t react on time which left a gap where Jones could take a shot and the deflected ball was struck by Salah into the net at the far post in 73 minutes of the game.
Liverpool couldn’t find the best way to break down Everton’s defensive block and dominate the game, but somehow Salah scored like he has done before in this kind of games.
75-90 mins
“Somehow Tarkowski equalised because it’s a derby”
The last 15 minutes of the game was not impressive except for the last-minute equaliser. Liverpool tried to slow the game down and Everton seemed to be unable to create their momentum. But they equalised. It is difficult to say something about this tactically, but it is really decent result because Liverpool couldn’t perform their best this night.
