Liverpool are a step closer to the Premier League title after winning in a typically feisty encounter with Everton on Wednesday evening.
Arne Slot’s team came into the match on the back of cup defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United — and although they enjoyed plenty of the ball in the first half, it was Everton who came closest to scoring when Beto’s shot rebounded off the post just after the half-hour mark.
David Moyes’ team also came closest to what is almost a Merseyside derby tradition — a red card — thanks to James Tarkowski’s full-blooded tackle on Alexis Mac Allister early on, but the defender surprisingly escaped with just a booking.
Liverpool stepped it up after the break and got their breakthrough after 57 minutes when Diogo Jota ended an almost three-month goal drought with a thumping finish past Jordan Pickford. Meanwhile, Everton, who had looked dangerous at times on the counter, ended the match without recording a shot on target.
Gregg Evans and Mark Carey analyse the game.
A welcome return to the scoresheet for Diogo Jota
Diogo Jota’s lacklustre first-half performance could easily have tempted Arne Slot into a half-time change. It was looking like another one of those disappointing nights for the Portuguese striker, who was on a dreadful run of 10 games and counting without a goal.
But a player as talented as Jota cannot hide away forever and he duly ended his drought with a fine individual goal that looked like he had never been away.
With Jota one of the best finishers at the club, it’s important for Liverpool to now keep him fit and firing in these final weeks of the season, as his goals could be the difference. It had been a long time since Anfield belted out his name in full voice, but his goal should now see him turn the corner.
The way he weaved in and out of the Everton defence before converting was sublime; when he’s playing with confidence, he’ll invariably be a threat
Liverpool’s forwards have struggled in recent times, with even Mohamed Salah failing to score in five of the last six games. Diaz has one goal since December, while Darwin Nunez, who replaced Jota late on, has only scored four all season.
Slot has continued to show faith in Jota during his poor run and will lean on him further as Liverpool try to wrap up the Premier League title.
Gregg Evans
Should James Tarkowski have been sent off?
How different might this game have been if James Tarkowski had been sent off for Everton early in the game after a horror challenge on Alexis Mac Allister?
The centre-back, responsible for that late equaliser in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park earlier this season, was involved in the thick of the action as he crunched into a challenge that left Mac Allister in a heap and was fortunate not to have caused serious damage.
Tarkowski went sliding through the midfielder on the edge of the box to win the ball, but carried through into his opponent, with replays making the challenge look even worse. Referee Sam Barrott decided to book the Everton captain but an upgrade to a red card appeared likely after a VAR check. However, the officials decided to stick with the original decision. Gary Neville, commentating for Sky in the UK, called it “a potential leg-breaker”.
It was a confusing decision and head coach Arne Slot and some of his players were unsurprisingly enraged by the outcome. Tarkowski now has the joint-most yellow cards without ever being sent off in a Premier League game.
Fortunately for Mac Allister, he was able to play on, but Liverpool should probably have had a man advantage for the majority of the game, which would have made their task far easier.
Gregg Evans
How did Curtis Jones get on at right-back?
Liverpool’s right-back position has been a particularly contentious topic over the past fortnight, but rather than looking to next season, Arne Slot had more immediate selection issues on his mind for the Merseyside derby.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez out of action through injury, Slot elected to play Curtis Jones ahead of the defensive option of Jarell Quansah. While it was a less familiar role for the 24-year-old, it was clear that Jones could offer more of a creative spark from the right flank, with Liverpool likely to dominate possession.
Jones was typically comfortable on the ball, which was unsurprising given his 94 per cent pass accuracy is the highest of any Liverpool player in the Premier League this season. Helping to build attacks from a conventional right-back position, Jones was not afraid to wander inside into familiar central areas to create overloads in midfield.
In truth, right-back looked good on Jones. His runs forward were not dissimilar from those he typically makes from midfield, underlapping Mohamed Salah to stretch Everton’s back line and allow his team-mate to receive the ball in space. There were often occasions when Jones was the furthest man forward, playing on Everton’s last line with his back to goal to occupy left-back Vitalii Mykolenko — again, in an attempt to free up Salah on the touchline.
The few times he was asked questions defensively, Jones also passed the test. It might have been an unconventional role on the night, but a local Liverpool player at right-back seems to be a winning formula in recent seasons — whoever it may be.
Mark Carey
Liverpool’s late control will please Slot
Merseyside derbies are always fuelled with emotion.
Intense, feisty clashes with frenetic energy are simply par for the course when these two sides face each other. There were periods where things started to heat up on the pitch, but one thing Liverpool did particularly well was turn down the temperature after scoring.
A cooler set of heads has been a theme of Liverpool’s season under Arne Slot, with his side able to manage games better depending on the state of the game. One of the few exceptions to that was Liverpool’s reverse fixture against Everton, where a 98th-minute equaliser from James Tarkowski sent Goodison Park into bedlam.
After Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute opener, there were sustained periods of possession where Liverpool circulated the ball left and right, backward and forward, with game management the priority over gung-ho attack. In the final half an hour of the game, Everton did not manage to have a shot on Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal.
It is the sort of approach that is needed to win titles, but in a clash that had the potential to reach boiling point, there was a calmness about Liverpool after they took the lead. That will please Slot as much as the three points.
Mark Carey
What did Arne Slot say?
The Liverpool manager was satisfied with his team’s performance, particularly compared with their previous performance against Everton. “What I liked much more today than I did at Goodison Park, at Goodison Park we had ball possession but we only had ball possession with our centre-backs and full-backs and today only the first half. I think if I say 10 or 15 times that Lucho Diaz was one-v-one against Jake O’Brien, I don’t even think I exaggerate, but to have that is one thing and to create a chance is another thing.”
Slot was also pleased with Jota’s goal. “He was close to it already in the first half; I think it was after seven or eight minutes. It was not a surprise they blocked that shot because they are defensively an incredibly strong team. For him to come up in the second half, he had two of these moments as well and the other moment was blocked. But he found just a bit of space and he scored the goal, which was nice for him but nice for us — and by us, I mean his teammates, the staff and the fans.”
What next for Liverpool?
Sunday, April 6: Fulham (A), Premier League, 14:00 BST, 09:00 EST
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(Top photo: Getty Images)
