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Liverpool hosted Everton at Anfield in the first Merseyside Derby of the season.
With just two days recovery from their Champions League tie, Arne Slot made four changes to the side that started against Atlético Madrid. Milos Kerkez and Conor Bradley replaced Andy Robertson and Jeremie Frimpong at full-back, while Dominik Szoboszlai moved forward into last season’s attacking midfield role as Alexis Mac Allister returned in midfield, and Hugo Ekitiké replaced Alexander Isak up front.
David Moyes made one change to the team that drew with Aston Villa, as Vitalii Mykolenko came in for Tim Iroegbunam, seeing James Garner move into midfield.
Everton dropped back to defend from the start, but they weren’t willing to completely cede the game in the way Burnley had, as they would instead press on an individual basis.
For example, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall would often drop back alongside the rest of the midfield, forming a 4-5-1, however he would then rush forward to press.
This limited the amount of time Liverpool’s players had on the ball, yet it also meant Everton weren’t particularly tight in midfield. Players rushing forward to press inevitably meant they left space behind them, and their teammates weren’t shifting to cover, so Everton’s midfield looked disjointed, with lots of gaps open.
Liverpool were set up well to exploit this. Kerkez and Bradley were tucking inside into the middle to join the midfielders, while Ekitiké was also dropping off the frontline, ensuring they had plenty of options in midfield. They were fluid positionally, taking it in turns at the base of the midfield then pushing forward as others moved back. As a result, Liverpool had little issue cutting through Everton’s midfield.
It took them just ten minutes to take the lead. Liverpool had the ball in midfield, with Ryan Gravenberch offloading it to Szoboszlai dropping back as Bradley pushed forward. Szoboszlai passed wide to Mohamed Salah, seeing Mykolenko move out to meet him, so Bradley made a run into the gap that saw Michael Keane shift across. Gravenberch had also pushed forward, so he made a run to attack the space Keane had left, and while James Tarkowski was quick to cover, Gravenberch gave him no time, looping Salah’s cross over Jordan Pickford into the net on the half-volley.
Immediately after going behind, Everton began to press in a more systemic manner. Rather than just one player pressing at a time, now their teammates would push forward in support too, going man-to-man to cut off the short options.
This still didn’t really help Everton though. Everton’s midfielders pushing up to get tight to Liverpool’s continued to leave space behind them for Liverpool to exploit, and pushing up didn’t even really do much to stop Liverpool playing out. With Alisson Becker helping, or by having a midfielder drop back, Liverpool could outnumber Everton’s frontline and play around them, before playing into those players behind the Everton midfield.
Liverpool also had some success on the flanks. Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye would track Liverpool’s full-backs, but not all the way back into defence, so Bradley and Kerkez could double up on Everton’s full-backs with the wingers, making runs in behind them as they were drawn wide.
In contrast, Everton weren’t really threatening Liverpool at all. They just kept pumping the ball long, where Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté were dominating in the air, and they weren’t really competing for second balls either.
Liverpool’s second goal came from this. Pickford kicked long, and Liverpool recovered the ball in midfield. Mac Allister and Szoboszlai combined to play around Idrissa Gueye, forcing Garner across to free up Gravenberch, and the Dutchman slipped a pass in behind for Ekitiké to finish, poking the ball through Pickford’s legs.
Everton’s best moments came when they got the ball wide, then slipped the ball through for a runner in behind. They had only attempted this a handful of times in the opening half hour, but after going two down they tried to hold onto possession more instead of just going long every time.
With Liverpool happier to sit back and protect their lead, the game shifted, with Everton trying to break them down, and Liverpool springing forward on the counter to try and catch them out.
It was Everton that managed it though. Gueye intercepted Mac Allister’s pass through the midfield, and Garner recovered the loose ball. With Gravenberch pushing forward and Szoboszlai moving wide, Mac Allister was the only man at the base of the midfield, so Garner was able to slide the ball through to Thierno Barry in attack, and he laid off the ball to Gueye, getting Everton running at Liverpool’s backline.
Gueye passed wide to Grealish, and with Bradley doing a good job blocking his path inside, he instead went down the outside, swinging in a cross with his left. Barry peeled off towards the back post, doubling up on Kerkez with Ndiaye, and the Hungarian moved inside to pick him up. This saw him get caught under the cross, going through to Ndiaye, who touched the ball down for Gueye to blast into the net.
The goal encouraged Everton to continue pushing, pressing Liverpool high.
Liverpool did little to discourage this. They kept trying to punish Everton pushing players forward by counter-attacking, but this would see Liverpool commit players forward themselves, opening up space for Everton.
Rather than trying to take the sting out of the game by frustrating Everton, the ball was going from end to end as soon as each team got it. This made for an entertaining end to the derby, but a nervy one for Liverpool holding out.
Everton didn’t really manage to put Liverpool in danger though, mainly looking to find Grealish on the left. Except for the goal, Bradley had had a good game against the winger, and now Szoboszlai was getting back to help out too, so he had little opportunity to create anything.
It was another stressful finish, but Liverpool managed to claim another victory, maintaining their 100% record to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
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