There wouldn’t have been many better match options for the first weekend of the Premier League being back than the Merseyside Derby. It was round 30 of the 2019/20 season, and Everton welcomed Liverpool for a game in front of the empty stands of Goodison Park on Sunday evening.
The Toffees re-entered the action sitting in 13th place after Newcastle beat Sheffield United earlier on the same day, with 37 points. Given the denseness of the teams occupying the middle part of the table, it could be said that they were finely balanced between fighting for a place in Europe and relegation. On the other hand, Liverpool topped the table by 22 points and were eager to continue their march towards the first league title since 1990.
Team News
Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti was without the services of defender Yerry Mina, midfielder Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Fabian Delph, as well as forwards Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun.
Jordan Pickford was in goal. Michel Keane and Mason Holgate were the two centre-backs, with Lucas Digne on the left and captain Seamus Coleman on the right. Tom Davies and Andre Gomes were tasked with the hard work in the middle of the pitch, with Alex Iwobi and Anthony Gordon in wider roles. Upfront, Richarlison played alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp in the away dugout had every player of the squad at his disposal, even though some minor issues reportedly made forward Mohamed Salah and left-back Andy Robertson miss a few training sessions earlier in the week. Nonetheless, the Egyptian started on the bench, while the Scotland captain was left out completely.
Alisson Becker stood between the posts. Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip paired up in the heart of defence, flanked by Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Milner. Fabinho anchored the midfield, with captain Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita in more advanced roles. Takumi Minamino and Sadio Mane played either side of Roberto Firmino in attack.
The First Half
Both teams entered the contest with notable desire, and a fierce battle unfolded straight away. Liverpool took possession of the ball first and pushed forward, but the home side were focused, and in the fourth minute a mistake by Fabinho enabled Richarlison to enter the box and shoot from a tight angle, but Alisson diverted the effort wide.
Despite Liverpool’s well-documented knack for pressing, Everton players insisted on playing out from the back and took a few risks in that respect, but rust, no doubt caused by the three-month break, thwarted the Reds from taking advantage.
Nonetheless, as time wore on, Liverpool gradually moved the line of battle deeper into the Everton half. In the 10th minute, Fabinho dispossessed Gordon in the middle of the park, Keita took the ball forward and involved Minamino, whose effort from around 20 yards missed the top corner by a foot.
Everton really struggled to keep hold of the ball once they reached the halfway line until Richarlison took it forward in the 16th minute and enabled his teammates to move in numbers into the opposition half, but Digne’s poor cross eventually ruined that move and Liverpool pushed them back again. On the other hand, hard work from Everton’s back line prevented the visitors from creating a proper chance time and again.
With a quarter of the game gone, Everton had their first spell of meaningful possession in Liverpool’s half, but they too struggled to find gaps in the opposition defence to exploit. It mostly came down with the ball circling very far from the box and trying a long pass towards Richarlison or Calvert-Lewin, but Van Dijk and Matip aren’t easy to beat that way.
After half an hour, several chances burst at both ends.
Liverpool had their first in the 30th minute when Alexander-Arnold whipped in a free-kick towards Matip in the box, but the centre-back failed to direct his header on target. Everton had the same situation two minutes later with the same result, as Richarlison’s header went over the bar following a good cross from Gordon. Then Minamino did well to dispossess Andre Gomes on the right and eventually Henderson involved Firmino, but the Brazilian only managed to drag a left-footed effort from just outside the box well wide of the target. It was followed by a dangerous run by Iwobi at the other end, but this time Richarlison ruined it with a feeble effort. In the 40th minute, Keane picked up a booking for a foul on Mane and Alexander-Arnold let one fly over the wall, but Pickford got there in time.
Two minutes later, a serious problem occurred for Klopp. With Robertson out, the last thing Liverpool needed was for Milner to pick up an injury, but that’s exactly what happened. Joe Gomez entered the fray.
Liverpool had a good go immediately afterwards as Mane found Minamino near the penalty spot, but the Japanese’s effort from there was blocked. The last few minutes of the half passed without much excitement.
The Second Half
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain took to the pitch for Liverpool instead of Minamino after the break.
The opening five minutes of the second half were rather tame, but then a Liverpool attack which somehow got Matip on the right wing ended with Keita playing a nice one-two with Firmino, before trying a flying volley which went wide. The Reds kept probing down both flanks and through the middle after that, but the Blues defended well.
One thing to note was that Gomez was getting more into his attacking role. He has been known to play left-back and do it well, but while usually defensively impeccable, Liverpool’s attacking game on that side always seemed less potent with him there. Now, however, he was up and down that flank time and again, often entering Everton’s box, in a nice imitation of Robertson.
In the 58th minute, Van Dijk headed Alexander-Arnold’s corner on target, but too feebly to trouble Pickford.
Liverpool were certainly getting a firmer grip on the proceedings at that point, and Ancelotti obviously felt compelled to react. Gylfi Sigurdsson replaced Gordon.
Less than a minute later, Everton suddenly broke on the counterattack. Calvert-Lewin found the run of Richarlison with a nice diagonal, but Matip tracked back quickly enough to force the Brazilian to shoot wide. Then Liverpool broke quickly through Mane down the middle, and Digne picked up a yellow card for mowing the Senegalese down less than 20 yards from the goal. Alexander-Arnold’s effort scraped the head of someone in the wall and went out for a corner.
Klopp’s next move was to introduce Georginio Wijnaldum in the place of Keita and Divock Origi for Firmino in the 65th minute, but he would soon face another injury blow. Matip was the one who went down holding his ankle after stepping awkwardly. He shook it off, but only for a minute until Dejan Lovren was ready to come on. The Liverpool boss had now spent all five of his substitutions available.
Liverpool took the ball more decisively at that point and moved forward in numbers for a while – still to no effect.
And in the 80th minute, Everton came as close as they possibly could without actually scoring. Gomes dispossessed Wijnaldum in the middle of the park and employed Richarlison on the left flank. Richarlison sought Calvert-Lewin just outside the six yards and Calvert-Lewin flicked it cleverly goalwards, Alisson saved it, Davies hit the post on the rebound, and then Van Dijk finally kicked it out for a corner. Liverpool’s troubles weren’t over, however, as Calvert-Lewin came close again, this time with a header. Just a few minutes later, Richarlison was on the left and his fine dribbling took Lovren out of the game, but Alisson was equal to his shot.
Incredibly enough, the Champions League holders barely survived that spell, and the game regained balance. Then Bernard came on for Everton instead of Iwobi for the last few minutes.
The second of the three minutes of stoppage time was passing when Richarlison mowed down Oxlade-Chamberlain just over 20 yards out. Fabinho had a go this time, and forced Pickford to make a fine save.
Ancelotti gave Moise Kean a run-out in the place of Calvert-Lewin in the dying seconds, and all the young forward managed to do on the pitch was to hear the final whistle.
The Afterthought
Everton hereby managed to slow their neighbours’ title charge with a disciplined performance, and even had the better chances to score. Liverpool, on the other hand, dominated most of the game, and even though neither team will feel happy about sharing the points, it does feel like a just result. Though neither lacked desire, both sets of players looked fairly rusty for most of the contest; but understandably so.
Liverpool are now 23 points ahead, and await to see Manchester City’s clash with Burnley on Monday, before they take on Crystal Palace at Anfield on Wednesday. But at this point, Klopp will likely be more worried about the situation with Milner and Matip, who both went off injured. As for Everton, they’ve climbed back to 12th place – probably not a very significant achievement, but at least they can boast that they’ve managed to stop their city rivals and Premier League’s runaway leaders.
Match Report
EVERTON: Pickford 7, Keane 7, Holgate 7.5, Digne 7, Coleman 6.5, Davies 6.5, Gomes 7, Iwobi 5.5 (88′ Bernard N/A), Gordon 6 (60′ Sigurdsson 6), Richarlison 7, Calvert-Lewin 7 (90′ Kean N/A).
LIVERPOOL: Alisson 7.5, Van Dijk 7, Matip 7 (73′ Lovren 6.5), Alexander-Arnold 6.5, Milner 6.5 (42′ Gomez 7), Fabinho 7, Henderson 6.5, Keita 7 (65′ Wijnaldum 6), Minamino 6.5 (46′ Oxlade-Chamberlain 7), Mane 7, Firmino 6.5 (65′ Origi 6).
GOALS: None.
YELLOW CARDS: Milner 20′, Keane 40′, Digne 62′, Origi 85′.
REFEREE: Mike Dean.
DATE & VENUE: June 21, 2020, Goodison Park, Liverpool.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
