Andy Hunter was at Anfield and his report is here. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Updated
Jurgen Klopp talks to TNT. “It was well deserved … it was a difficult game … a lot of emotions involved … red cards, maybe a second yellow for us … penalty, it’s an example of how a penalty looks … in the first half, we had three big opportunities which didn’t even end up with a shot on target which is not cool … that didn’t happen and it’s not helpful … the red card for Everton obviously changed the game but we didn’t use it immediately to our advantage … we kept them away from our goal, which was important because the more set pieces they have the more likely they will score … yes, we were lucky, I haven’t seen it back yet but probably we were lucky with [Konate] that he didn’t get the second yellow … and finally we used one counter attack even if it was late … I understand [Everton’s frustration] but when we were on the other side we had to accept it … it’s really hard to do it in the first moment, but you get over it with time, I can tell you.”
A clearly frustrated Sean Dyche speaks to TNT. “It’s the bizarre nature of the modern game … how they at 0-0 have 11 on the pitch, I don’t think anyone in the stadium knows why … their manager certainly didn’t because he took the player off straight away … it changed the game but that’s the way it goes … the second [Ashley Young] yellow card has to be yellow, but the first one? … I don’t want to get in trouble … I don’t know how I got yellow carded, our staff all got yellow carded … it’s impossible we could get yellow carded today with that performance but we did … their manager is a fine judge, quite obviously he’s looked at [Konte] and thought I’d better get him off, that was proof in itself … beyond that, I’ve got a group of players who gave everything … we did very well to quell the game and calm it down … everything was going fine, a loose arm, we know what happens nowadays, a tough one, the ball’s at close quarters … the last-minute goal we were chasing the game … massive decisions from the officials and it’s a head-scratcher … I’d be amazed if they didn’t think they’ve got away with one.”
Virgil van Dijk speaks to TNT. “There has been a transition in the way we play … we have different players with different qualities … we have to adapt and I think it is working quite well … everyone is playing on quite a high level … that is the key to success this season … everyone last year was drained if I’m absolutely honest … it was such a disappointing season … we won against United big but lost at Bournemouth in the next game, it was so frustrating … you sense a different vibe and energy at the club … the guys who have come in have been outstanding … Szoboszlai is a different breed, he keeps running … it is something to be excited about as a Liverpool fan … but we have to find consistency … top of the table doesn’t mean anything at this point, we will probably not be in a couple of hours … it is game by game.”
A strange game, that. Liverpool were the best side on the balance of play. Ashley Young was deservedly sent off for two yellow cards, while Michael Keane’s handball led to a fairly awarded penalty … and yet Everton will have legitimate complaints at the nature of their eventual defeat. Ibrahima Konate should have picked up a second yellow of his own during the second half; had he been sent packing, the outcome could have been very different. Sean Dyche will no doubt be fuming, but when the dust settles he’ll be happy with the way his team held firm for so long. A few home fans serenaded the away end with a chorus of “going down” … but that’s not going to happen to an Everton side looking increasingly resilient. Liverpool meanwhile will be happy to get one of those pesky 12.30pm post-international fixtures out of the way, grabbing all three points despite playing nowhere near their best.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 2-0 Everton
Liverpool go top … for a couple of hours at least.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 9 | 11 | 20 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 4 | Man City | 8 | 11 | 18 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 8 | 7 | 16 |
90 min +9: Beto hoicks a speculative shot deep into the Anfield Road end. Anfield suddenly en fête.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Everton (Salah 90+7)
Liverpool have countered so often today, with little by way of end result. But now look. Mac Allister nicks the ball off Chermiti on the right-hand corner of the D. He pokes clear for Nunez, who barrels down the middle. Liverpool are two on one, with Salah to his right. Nunez rolls a perfect pass to Salah, who opens his body and lashes into the top right. Pickford did his best, but had no chance.
Updated
90 min +6: Szoboszlai dances his way out of a tight spot on the left. He should feed Jota on the overlap, but opts to have a dig himself, having carved the opportunity out of nothing. He curls harmlessly high and wide right.
90 min +4: Liverpool counter from Everton’s corner. Nunez and Salah execute a long-range one-two … only for Doucoure to stop Salah’s gallop as the Liverpool striker reaches the edge of the box. He’s put in an excellent shift today. A man-of-the-match performance, despite being on the losing side? Onana would have a shout too.
90 min +3: Danjuma causes some bother down the middle, forcing Van Dijk to concede a corner. Big chance for Everton to cause some trouble here. Garner to take.
90 min +2: Jota jinks his way down the inside-left channel and enters the box. He’s got Nunez and Salah to his right, but opts to go for it himself instead. He lashes into the side netting.
90 min +1: That’ll give Everton renewed spring in their step. The nerves all around Anfield are palpable, from both sets of fans.
90 min: He’d have had to give it up had this gone in. Elliott sends a vicious dipping shot towards the top right. Pickford extends fully to tip over sensationally. Nothing comes of the corner. There will be nine added minutes.
89 min: Some head tennis in midfield. In the technical area, Sean Dyche claps hard to encourage his men. He’ll not have given this up yet.
88 min: Nothing comes from the corner. Everton swap Mykolenko for Chermiti.
87 min: … so having said that, Nunez goes on a barnstorming run down the left, tearing past Patterson and whipping a cross to the near stick. Branthwaite knows there’s red shirts behind him, and has to intervene. He heads wide left, though his heart would have skipped a beat for a split second there.
85 min: Nunez chases after a couple of cute passes down the inside-right channel, and fails to control either. He was sensational against Brazil the other night. Not so much today.
84 min: Mac Allister drops deep on the left and sends a long diagonal towards Salah on the penalty spot. Pickford reads the danger wonderfully, coming off his line to claim confidently.
83 min: Liverpool ping it around in the clock-management style.
81 min: … while Gomez replaces Diaz. Alexander-Arnold then curls the free kick into the mixer. With Matip preparing to head home, Branthwaite eyebrows out for a corner on the left. Szoboszlai whistles the corner to Jota, who zips a header straight into the arms of Pickford. Just like Calvert-Lewin in the very first minute, had that gone either side of the keeper, it was a certain goal. The small margins, huh.
80 min: Mykolenko grabs a handful of Salah’s jersey. Free kick out on the right. Before it can be taken, Onana is replaced by Danjuma …
78 min: Nunez attempts to combine with Salah down the right but Mykolenko holds his position. Goal kick. Nunez hasn’t really contributed since coming on. But then we were saying this for a while when Liverpool visited Newcastle, too, and look what happened there.
76 min: Everton had defended so well, too. Everton coach Ian Woan is booked for saying his piece, no doubt regarding the Konate non-decision. “That first non-penalty seemed like a make-up call for not sending Konate off,” argues Joe Pearson. “But they couldn’t ignore the second. Yes, I do have a tin foil hat on. Why do you ask?”
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Everton (Salah 75 pen)
Nope! Salah absolutely lashes the penalty into the right-hand side of the net. Pickford goes the wrong way, but even if he guessed correctly, he was never stopping that. Liverpool lead!
Updated
Penalty for Liverpool!
74 min: Craig Pawson trots over to the screen and makes the inevitable decision. Can Salah break the deadlock from 12 yards? Pickford has some detailed penalty notes on his water bottle. Will the data serve him well!
72 min: Diaz accelerates down the left, reaches the byline and crosses. The ball hits Keane’s arm, which is hanging away from his body. The referee says it’s just a corner. VAR will take a look … and sends the referee over to the monitor. Keane’s arm was hanging out far enough for this to be given, I think. We’ll see …
Updated
70 min: Diaz turns on the jets and nearly gets past Patterson. He goes over, and wants a penalty, but neither referee nor VAR shows interest. Diaz only hit Patterson while turning back into the Everton defender, so that seems about fair. No doubt there will be other opinions on the old internet.
69 min: Liverpool are probing, but Everton continue to stand firm. It’s attack versus defence, and yet Pickford still hasn’t been put to serious work this afternoon.
67 min: Nothing comes of the Liverpool corner. “I think Everton have a case for the referee not applying cards fairly,” writes Rick Harris. “As a neutral I’d say the ref has ruined the game.”
66 min: Nunez and Jota combine to win a corner down the left. Before it can be taken, Konate is replaced by Matip, which is as good an admission from Jurgen Klopp that his man has got away with one. Dyche is booked for making that exact point.
64 min: Konate puts his arm around Beto in the midfield. Beto goes down, and Everton demand a second yellow. Sean Dyche certainly wants it, and he jumps up and down with his arms waving in the manic style. But the referee doesn’t think there’s enough in it. Konate is a very lucky chap.
Updated
63 min: Diaz cuts infield past Patterson and flays an ambitious shot from distance high and wide right. No need for Liverpool to get this desperate yet.
62 min: Liverpool respond by swapping out Tsimikas and Gravenberch for Elliott and Nunez.
61 min: Calvert-Lewin is replaced by Beto.
60 min: Tsimikas crosses harmlessly from the left. Pickford plucks calmly. Anfield sighs and jeers. Everton are doing an excellent job of keeping the home fans quiet … and frustrated.
59 min: Everton are holding their shape nicely. Szoboszlai and Alexander-Arnold are dropping deep to probe, but to little effect. Salah cuts a frustrated figure.
57 min: Gravenberch pings a pass down the inside-left channel. Diaz chases it into the box. Onana ushers the ball out of play, but at the expense of disappearing over the hoardings behind the goal. At speed, too. Thankfully he’s back up soon enough. That could have been nasty.
Updated
55 min: Onana wins a free kick in the middle of Liverpool’s half. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Liverpool box. Garner floats it in. It’s half cleared, then Garner has a swipe from the best part of 30 yards. That one’s heading for the new, as-yet-unopened tier atop the Anfield Road stand.
53 min: VAR’s not interested. Correctly so, because the ball took a deflection from close range en route to hitting Mykolenko’s arm, which was hanging by his side.
52 min: Bedlam in the Everton box. Salah shoots. Tarkowski blocks. Gravenberch takes another whack. Tarkowski blocks again. Corner to Liverpool … and the ball rears up to hit Mykolenko on the arm. Liverpool scream for a penalty and VAR will look.
51 min: Konate is down after taking an accidental whack in the mush from Calvert-Lewin. There’s no punishment, which is the correct decision, not that the home faithful agree. We play on.
50 min: Konate is booked for a cynical arm across Onana’s shoulder, as the Everton man looked to break from deep.
49 min: Alexander-Arnold crosses deep from the right. Jota can’t keep the ball in at the far stick. Goal kick, which Pickford takes his sweet time over. At least that got the crowd going; Anfield isn’t exactly a cauldron of noise at the moment. The tension palpable.
48 min: This could be a long second half for ten-man Everton. Then again, against a Sean Dyche team set up to dig in, this could be a frustrating one for Liverpool. Let’s see how it pans out, then.
Updated
46 min: Gravenberch goes over Doucoure’s leg in the Everton area, but carefully and in super-slow motion, and he’s never getting that decision.
Liverpool get the ball rolling for the second half. Everton make a couple of changes, and it looks like they’re lining up with five at the back: McNeil and Harrison are hooked for Keane and Patterson.
Our half-time postbag offers some hope for ten-man Everton. “Ashley Young’s sending off for two yellows is the first for an opposition player against Liverpool since Sadio Mané, when he was still with Southampton in 2015,” writes Rob Moore.
Matt Burtz adds: “Twice in recent years I’ve seen Everton nick a late victory with only ten men (away to Watford and home to Newcastle), so I’m actually not as discouraged by the red card as one might think. If Everton can dig in, stay organized, and not do anything stupid, you never know.”
So Matt’s boundless optimism may not be misplaced, because the match Rob refers to ended 1-1. Admittedly Mané wasn’t sent off that day until the 90th minute, having equalised four minutes earlier, and Everton still have 45 minutes to negotiate, but make of that what you will.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 0-0 Everton
There’s just enough time for Jota to go over in the box. He claims a penalty. Neither referee nor VAR has any interest in giving it. The whistle goes, with Doucoure and Jota bickering and Sean Dyche storming down the tunnel in a hot funk, having tapped his watch furiously in the assistant referee’s face for no discernible reason. Passions running high, but this is the Merseyside derby after all.
45 min +1: Pickford launches long. Calvert-Lewin can’t chest down to gain control. Had he managed it, he’d have been clear on goal. Alisson claims and Liverpool counter. Szoboszlai aims for the top right from distance, his dipper only just clearing the bar.
45 min: There will be a minimum of two added minutes. “Silly for Young to dive in when on a yellow but I think he can get hard done by for the first yellow considering Tsimikas made the exact same foul and wasn’t booked,” argues Samuel Campbell. Yep, you can certainly argue that Tsimikas should have gone into the book, but Young deliberately hung out a leg to stop Diaz for that first yellow, so he can’t have too many arguments given his own actions.
Updated
44 min: Corner for Liverpool on the left. It’s worked back to Alexander-Arnold, whose shot is blocked by the omnipresent Onana.
42 min: Tarkowski blocks Szoboszlai’s shot with the contents of his special area. Ooyah, oof. He stays down, but Liverpool play on, Salah whistling a low cross through the six-yard box from the right. Nobody in red anticipates, and Everton take a breath again. So does Tarkowski, once everything descends back to its proper level.
Updated
41 min: Everton go up the other end. McNeil turns into space, 25 yards out, and hits a rising shot that’s deflected over the bar. Alisson wasn’t sure where that was going. Everton send the big guns up, but Alisson claims the corner with ease.
39 min: … Van Dijk sees his header deflected over the bar. Another corner coming in, this time from the right. Tsimikas takes. The ball is half-cleared to Alexander-Arnold, who creams a first-time shot inches over the bar from the edge of the D. Had that been on target, Pickford was never stopping it. That stayed hit.
38 min: Szoboszlai hits the free kick long. Alexander-Arnold picks it up on the other flank and forces a corner, from which …
RED CARD: Young (Everton)
37 min: Diaz dribbles hard down the left and drops a shoulder to get past Young, who slides in from the back, just outside the box. It’s a second yellow and off he goes down the tunnel with a face on. He can’t really have any complaints.
Updated
35 min: Alexander-Arnold launches long. Salah can’t quite get on the end of the pass, Mykolenko heading into the centre. The ball doesn’t quite drop for the lurking Jota, and Pickford gathers. Everton were all over the shop there, and Jota was very close to pouncing.
34 min: Mac Allister has a whack from distance. Pickford saves but spills, and is fortunate there’s nobody in red following up the shot. The keeper gathers.
33 min: Mykolenko goes down, Jota having stood on the back of his heel. VAR checks and it’s accidental. Happily there’s no harm done and Mykolenko is back up and about soon enough.
32 min: Tarkowski is booked for clanking into the back of Szoboszlai.
31 min: Young miscontrols and the ball goes out for a throw. He kicks the ball into the crowd. He’ll need to watch himself, already on a booking as he is.
29 min: Everton have quietened the home fans, which is stage one completed. Meanwhile here’s Justin Kavanagh: “Football is too polite these days, with the dark arts being flushed out by the nanny state of VAR. Discuss. I was thinking this as I tried to imagine van Dijk keeping a little black book (or an untraceable app, I suppose) with Pickford’s picture on it marked with today’s date).”
27 min: Salah cuts in from the right past McNeil and aims for the top left. His trademark move, but this one flies harmlessly over the bar. Pickford looked to be in place to make the save had it been on target.
26 min: Onana, in the centre circle inside his own half, spots Alisson off his line. He drags his shot weakly wide left, but full marks for ambition.
24 min: Szoboszlai, quarterbacking from deep, threads a wonderful diagonal pass down the inside-right channel that would have set Salah free were it not for a last-second toe poke by Mykolenko. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Liverpool are dominating, but Pickford has yet to make a save.
23 min: The free kick’s just left of centre, on the edge of the D. It’s tapped to the right for Alexander-Arnold, who batters his shot into the wall. Everton clear their lines. Alexander-Arnold’s wait for a first goal in a derby goes on.
22 min: Jota dribbles infield from the right and is upended by Tarkowski on the edge of the D. A free kick in a very dangerous position. Alexander-Arnold’s eyes light up.
21 min: Tsimikas is fortunate not to follow Young into the book for a very similar check on Harrison. Free kick to Everton, though. It’s lumped into the box and Alisson comes out to claim confidently … and Liverpool launch yet another counter! Diaz over-dribbles and the attack’s over, but Everton can’t keep doing this, surely.
20 min: Mac Allister sprays a glorious left-to-right ball towards Salah on the right. It deserves more than Salah clanking straight into Mykolenko.
18 min: Young is booked for a cynical check on an in-flight Diaz. While that card’s being administered, Klopp gives Tsimikas a calming cuddle on the touchline. A word of advice too, doubtless.
Updated
17 min: … Liverpool counter again, and should score. Diaz tears down the left and has Jota and Salah free in the middle. He rolls a dismal pass infield that allows Onana to intercept. Fine defensive work, but he should never have been allowed to stop the attack.
16 min: Now he’s late to a decent Gravenberch pass in midfield, clattering into Garner instead of taking up possession. That allows Everton to break upfield through Harrison, whose fine cross is headed over by Konate. And from that …
14 min: A poor pass upfield from Tsimikas nearly allows Harrison to slip clear down the right. Szoboszlai comes across to help out. A mixed bag from Robertson’s deputy so far. A fine attacking cross a few minutes ago; this, not so good.
13 min: Everton deal with the resulting corner easily enough.
12 min: McNeil pounces on a poor Konate pass and threatens to burst down the left. Van Dijk reads the danger and pokes out for a corner. From that set piece, Liverpool break upfield at speed again, Szoboszlai sending Diaz clear into the box down the left. Diaz shoots diagonally. Young turns up and extends a leg to deflect wide, a magnificent last-ditch intervention.
11 min: Liverpool have enjoyed 76 percent of possession during these early exchanges. But Everton have had the best chance.
10 min: Pickford launches a long free kick. Liverpool deal with it easily and counter through Gravenberch, Salah, Jota and Szoboszlai. A right-to-left move that ends with Jota winning a corner … from which nothing comes. Liverpool looked dangerous in full flight there, though.
Updated
8 min: Alexander-Arnold and Salah combine long down the right. Salah tries to feed Diaz into the box. Pickford slips, but recovers to gather before Diaz can get on the end of the pass.
6 min: Tsimikas crosses viciously from the left. Gravenberch, Jota and Salah all try to get on the end of the excellent delivery. Pickford punches clear instead. A lively start to this match.
5 min: Pickford, armed with the knowledge that slow restarts wind up the Anfield crowd something rotten, takes an age over a goal kick. Cynical/smart, depending on your point of view.
4 min: … so having said that, Szoboszlai dinks a pass down the inside-right channel to find Salah free in the box. Salah shanks his shot and then the flag goes up belatedly. Saving his blushes? Well, maybe, though had he scored, VAR might have been required to take a look. It was a close offside decision.
3 min: Gravenberch attempts to burst into space towards the Everton box but he’s stopped by an excellent Doucoure tackle. Everton have started confidently.
2 min: Calvert-Lewin did exceptionally well to rise above Van Dijk there. Either side of Alisson and Liverpool would be behind in a Premier League match yet again.
Updated
36 sec: Mac Allister has been giving the ball away quite a lot recently, and he immediately does so again here. McNeil crosses from the left and Calvert-Lewin heads straight at Alisson. Nearly a dream start for the visitors!
Every player takes the knee … then Everton kick off. They’re attacking the Kop in this first half.
The teams are out. The Redmen and the Blues. You’ll Never Walk Alone blasting out of the PA. Autumnal sunshine flitting across the Anfield pitch. Both sets of fans well up for it. Both teams no doubt as well. Smiles as captains Van Dijk and Tarkowski. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes … after a moment of silent reflection in memory of the victims in Israel and Gaza. Perfectly observed, a few idiots apart, and they’re shouted down very quickly.
Jurgen Klopp speaks to TNT. “[Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch] are three pretty good players who have already shown up this season so everyone can see how important they are for us … they are not new to each other any more … they like each other, you can see that even off the pitch … it is not only about midfield but it is an important area of the pitch … we have to win I don’t know how many second balls today … Everton are in a good moment … you can see a clear structure … they go for it and we have to go for it.”
According to the LFC History website, 39 players have turned out for both Liverpool and Everton. Alphabetically speaking, the list starts at Gary Ablett and ends with Abel Xavier, taking in Liverpool legends such as Jack Balmer and Steve McMahon, and Everton heroes like Kevin Sheedy and Dave Hickson. It’s well worth a good long click around (but don’t forget to come back to the MBM).
Anyway, one of those double agents is at Anfield today: the handsome and occasionally brilliant if slightly erratic Sander Westerveld. He played nearly as many times for Everton as he won cups with Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool side in 2001, so he’s probably not the best example of the above, but he’s in attendance and that’s good enough for us. The article below contains an entry which goes some way to explaining why he was known to a generation of Fiver readers as Safe Hands. Oh Sander! Oh Graham Poll! How could you!
Sean Dyche speaks to TNT Sports. “We felt the performance at the beginnings of the season weren’t getting what they deserved … we have an insights team that look into the minutiae, they use the same metrics all the time … they said keep doing what you’re doing, you’re performing so powerfully it will pay you back … you have to keep performing … getting people to true fitness helps … if you get that as a squad, it’s so helpful to the side … you have to start right and defend well … make the game about yourselves and take the game on … it’s important that we do that today.”
Liverpool make four changes to the team that drew 2-2 at Brighton. One is enforced: Kostas Tsimikas comes in for Andy Robertson, who is expected to be out for up to three months after shoulder surgery. Ibrahima Konate replaces Joel Matip in defence, Ryan Gravenberch makes his first Premier League start at the expense of Harvey Elliott, and Diogo Jota returns from suspension, a possibly jet-lagged Darwin Nunez resting on the bench after his scoring-and-assisting exploits for Uruguay against Brazil.
Compare and contrast with all that tumult: Everton are unchanged from their comfortable 3-0 win over Bournemouth. Idrissa Gueye returns from injury and takes up a place on the bench. Jack Harrison, Ashley Young, Jarrad Branthwaite and James Garner are all making their derby debuts.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Salah, Jota, Diaz.
Subs: Gomez, Endo, Nunez, Elliott, Matip, McConnell, Kelleher, Quansah, Scanlon.
Everton: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Harrison, Garner, Onana, McNeil, Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Patterson, Keane, Danjuma, Virginia, Beto, Godfrey, Gueye, Chermiti, Dobbin.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
Preamble
Welcome to the 208th league meeting of the two Merseyside giants. Everton have a diabolical record in this fixture: they’ve only won once at Anfield in the 21st century, and that was during the pandemic with nobody there to see it. Other than that, it’s been almost complete Liverpool dominance, with the Reds winning seven and drawing two of the last ten Anfield meets, to the aggregate tune of 21-5.
Throw in the fact that Liverpool are currently fourth and Everton 16th, and you could be forgiven for writing this off as a home shoo-in. But nothing’s ever quite as simple as that, is it, so here come the usual Guardian MBM Preamble Ah-buts™. Liverpool’s last two Premier League games have been disappointing momentum-sappers: the farcical defeat at Spurs was followed by an erratic draw at Brighton. Everton by contrast have won three of their last four in league and cup, which suggests Sean Dyche is slowly turning that ship around. And there’s also the small matter of Liverpool’s recent record in 12.30pm kick-offs: three draws and three defeats last season (though they won 3-1 at Wolves after last month’s international break, so in that sense it’s swings and one mini- roundabout).
All of which is a long-winded way of saying that Liverpool are favourites to chalk up yet another Merseyside derby triumph today … but Sean Dyche has performed smash-and-grab heroics at Anfield before, during his Burnley days, and will fancy his in-form-ish Everton team’s chances of putting one over Jurgen Klopp again. Throw in the form-window-interface derby caveat, and this should be a cracker. Kick-off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!
