It was Derby Day on Merseyside on Saturday, with Liverpool welcoming neighbours Everton to Anfield for a contest within the fifth round of the Premier League season.
Ryan Gravenberch broke the deadlock 10 minutes in, and Hugo Ekitike poked in a second goal in the 29th. A powerful shot from Idrissa Gana Gueye gave Everton some hope in the 58th, but the scoreline did not change any further.
Teams
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones was a doubt for this game having missed previous two outings through injury, but he recovered in time to make the bench. The two players who did not make the sheets were Liverpool’s Stefan Bajcetic and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, both out through hamstring problems.
Despite the summer arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili, Alisson Becker remains the undisputed No. 1 for Liverpool, and so it was on this occasion as well. Connor Bradley was chosen to start ahead of Jeremie Frimpong at right-back, Milos Kerkez got his place on the left back from Andy Robertson, and the usual duo of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate paired up in the heart of defence.
Arne Slot’s decision to leave Florian Wirtz on the bench was perhaps a bit surprising, as Dominik Szoboszlai took up his designated role as the most advanced midfielder, with Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister behind his back. Mohamed Salah attacked from the right, Cody Gakpo from the left, and Ekitike started as the centre-forward with record signing Alexander Isak waiting on the bench.
Meanwhile, in the absence of Branthwaite, Everton boss David Moyes named Michael Keane and James Tarkowski as the centre-back pair ahead of England’s No. 1 Jordan Pickford, with Vitaliy Mykolenko on the left and Jake O’Brien on the right. Gueye was joined by James Garner in the middle of the park, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall given a more advanced role. Manchester City loanee Jack Grealish was on the left attacking flank, Illman Ndiaye on the right, supporting striker Beto.
Key moments
Liverpool expectedly dominated the proceedings from the start, pushing the visitors back. They didn’t find it easy to create chances as the Blues kept their lines close, but one fantastic pass from Salah found Gravenberch running into the box, and the Dutch midfielder produced a fine, lobbing effort to beat Pickford and open the scoring.
The Reds maintained control without major problems throughout the first half, and in the 16th minute, Salah took advantage of some sloppiness from Everton to fire from his favourite position, sending the effort just over the far top corner. Everton had a chance through Dewsbury-Hall in the 27th minute, but the shot from a tight angle also went over the bar.
And in the 29th minute, Mac Allister combined well with Szoboszlai before goalscorer Gravenberch turned provider for Ekitike, who poked the ball through Pickford’s legs to double Liverpool’s lead. The way the former Eintracht Frankfurt striker moved in between Tarkowski and Keane, using his speed of foot and thought to get the better of his markers, was a sign of class. Pickford, on the other hand, probably should’ve done better there.
There was nothing to wait for from Everton’s point of view, and perhaps the scuffed effort of Gueye, unmarked at the edge of the box in the first-half stoppage time, which Alisson easily saved, was a mark of things to come after the break.
At the restart, the Blues seemed to have brought new energy onto the pitch and grew into the contest. Much like Liverpool in the first half, Moyes’ men didn’t cause too many problems for the opposing defenders, but one bright moment was enough for them to cut the deficit in half. It was minute 58 when Ndiaye brought down Grealish’s cross for Gueye to run onto, and the former PSG man blasted into the top corner, with Alisson unable to do anything about it.
It was a familiar scene at Liverpool; their supporters will have been worried at that point as memories of two-goal advantages being dropped against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Atletico Madrid came flooding back. However, Slot’s men snapped out of the stupor timely on this occasion, regained control and brought the match to an end much calmer than every game they’ve played this season so far.
Ryan Gravenberch
As Jurgen Klopp sought to strengthen and rejuvenate his midfield in the final summer windows of his reign at Anfield, the Reds were first beaten to the services of Aurelien Tchouameni by Real Madrid, and then Moises Caicedo chose Chelsea as his preferred destination. In that time, Mac Allister and Wataru Endo joined their ranks, as well as Gravenberch.
Mac Allister was, of course, a player proven during Argentina’s run to World Cup glory in 2022, but Endo and Gravenberch were widely perceived as underwhelming signings at the time. Endo obviously wasn’t brought in for a starting role, and Gravenberch played a rather timid debut season in the Premier League. Then Slot took over, and for the Dutchman, everything changed.
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Playing in slightly deeper role than he did before, Gravenberch is now a vital cog in Slot’s machinery, named as the Premier League Young Player of the Year for 2024/25. A regular starter for the reigning champions of arguably the strongest league in the world. No Liverpool fan would rather see Tchouameni or Caicedo in their team anymore.
This was yet another marvelous performance from the 23-year-old. He had five successful tackles (Gueye for Everton had two), but the way he scored his goal and assisted Ekitike’s was pure class, helping him land one more Man of the Match award.
There is no doubt that Liverpool have their midfield anchor role sorted for the foreseeable future.
Branthwaite crucial for Everton
With both Liverpool goals in this match, one thing stands glaringly out. Both Gravenberch and Ekitike scored after making their respective runs between Keane as the left-sided centre-back and Mykolenko as the left-back. This is where Salah sought to find Gravenberch and where Gravenberch sought to find Ekitike, which points to pattern Slot had devised to hurt the Everton defence.
Keane and Tarkowski are both fine centre-backs; experienced, powerful, fantastic in the air. But these moments exposed the only real weakness for both – lack of pace and agility, which is probably why no top club (with all due respect to Everton) never put any real money towards securing their services. Both Gravenberch and Ekitike made their runs like cats, with great promptness in the way they did what they had to do. Gravenberch hit his shot first time, and for Ekitike, it was one soft touch to steady the ball and a quick shot.
This is what Moyes needs to think about, and arguably ask his employers to dip into the market soon to sign a centre-back with enough speed to anticipate and prevents this sort of thing. This is what Everton have with Branthwaite in their ranks, and probably the reason why the Toffees so stubbornly resisted any interest in his services in recent transfer windows.
Coming up next
The Blues will have to get over the Derby disappointment quickly and sort themselves out for the upcoming trip to face Wolves in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. After that, Moyes will have six whole days to rest his men before welcoming his old team – West Ham – to the newly built Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton remain on seven points after five rounds, which has them in the middle section of the table right now. Their exact position will likely change one way or the other before the weekend is over.
But it certainly won’t change for Liverpool. The Reds lead the pack with a 100% record this season, which also includes a dramatic victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League opener. Slot and his players will now sit calmly to watch as Arsenal and Manchester City, their likeliest title rivals for the campaign, face each other on Sunday.
Then they’ll welcome Southampton in the cup on Tuesday, before traveling to London to try and get some revenge for Crystal Palace beating them in the Community Shield in August.
A final note: this was David Moyes’ 21st match as an away manager at Anfield. He has never won. It is the most matches for a manager not winning at a venue in the history of the Premier League.
