It was Derby Day on Merseyside on Saturday, where Liverpool Buren Everton welcomed in Anfield for a match in the fifth round of the Premier League season.
Ryan Gravenberch broke the impasse for 10 minutes and Hugo Ekitike stuck in a second goal in the 29th. A powerful shot by Idrissa Gana Gueye gave Everton some hope in the 58th, but the score did not change any further.
Teams
Liverpool -midfielder Curtis Jones was a doubt that this game had missed earlier two trips due to injury, but he recovered on time to make the bank. The two players who did not make the sheets were Stefan Bajcetic from Liverpool and Jarrad Branthwaite from Everton, both due to hamstring problems.
Despite the summer arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili, Alisson Becker remains the undisputed no. 1 for Liverpool, and so it was also on this occasion. Connor Bradley was chosen to lead Jeremie Frimpong right-back, Milos Kerkez got his place on the left side of Andy Robertson, and the usual duo of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate coupled in the heart of the defense.
The decision of Arne Slot to leave Florian Wirtz on the couch was perhaps a bit surprising, because Dominik Szoboszlai took 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 Center-Forward with record signing of Alexander Isak who waited for the bank.
In the meantime, Everton boss called David Moyes, in the absence of Branthwaite, Michael Keane and James Tarkowski as the center-back pair for the number 1 Jordan Pickford of England, with Vitaliy Mykolenko on the left and Jake O’Brien on the right. Gueye was accompanied by James Garner in the middle of the park, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall a more advanced role. Lennee by Manchester City Jack Grealisk was on the left attacking flank, Illman Ndiaye on the right, to support striker Beto.
Important moments
Liverpool was expected to dominate the procedure from the start and pushed the visitors back. They didn’t find it easy to create opportunities because the blues kept their lines close by, but a fantastic pass from Salah found Gravenberch the box in Rennen, and the Dutch midfielder produced a nice, lumpy effort to defeat Pickford and open the score.
The Reds maintained control without major problems during the first half, and in the 16th minute Salah benefited from some sloppiness of Everton to shoot out of his favorite position, so that the effort was sent just over the far top corner. Everton had a chance through Dewsbury-Hall in the 27th minute, but the shot from a tight corner also went over the bar.
And in the 29th minute Mac Allister combined well with Szoboszlai before goal scorer Gravenberch provider became for Ekitike, who stuck the ball through the legford’s legs to double the lead of Liverpool. The way in which the former Eintracht -striker of Frankfurt came in between Tarkowski and Keane, with the help of his foot speed and thought to get his markings better, was a sign of class. Pickford, on the other hand, should probably have done better there.
There was nothing to wait for Everton’s point of view, and perhaps the gaps of Gueye, unmarked on the edge of the box in the first half of the interruption, that Alisson is easy to save, a sign of things that came after the break.
At the restart, the blues seemed to have brought new energy to the field and grew in the competition. Just like Liverpool in the first half, the men of Moyes did not cause too many problems for the opposite defenders, but one clear moment was enough for them to reduce the shortage in two. It was minute 58 when Ndiaye brought down the cross of Grealisk for Gueye to run on, and the former PSG man shot in the upper corner, where Alisson could do nothing about it.
It was a well -known scene in Liverpool; Their supporters will have been worried at that time, because memories of two-target benefits were dropped against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Atletico Madrid came back. The men of Slot broke out of the Stupor on this occasion on this occasion, got control back and brought the game much quieter to an end than every game they have played this season so far.
Ryan Gravenberch
While Jurgen Klopp tried to strengthen and rejuvenate his midfield in the last summer windows of his reign in Anfield, the Reds were first beaten for the services of Aurelien Tchouameni by Real Madrid, and then Moises Caicedo chose Chelsea as his preferred destination. At that time Mac Allister and Wataru Endo joined their ranks, as well as Gravenberch.
Mac Allister was of course a player who was proven to World Cup Glory in 2022 during Argentina’s Run in 2022, but Endo and Gravenberch were seen on a large scale at that time as overwhelming signing sessions. Endo was clearly not brought in for a starting role and Gravenberch played a rather timid debut season in the Premier League. Then Slot took over and everything changed for the Dutchman.
Including Getty Images
Gravenberch plays in a slightly deeper role than before, is now an essential gear in the Machines of Slot, mentioned as the Premier League Young Player of the Year for 2024/25. A permanent starter for the ruling champions of perhaps the strongest competition in the world. No Liverpool fan would rather see Tchouameni or Caicedo in their team.
This was still a great achievement of 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, so he helped another man from the Match Award.
There is no doubt that Liverpool has resolved their role of midfield anchor for the near future.
Branthwaite crucial for Everton
With both goals in Liverpool in this competition, one thing is clearly out. Both Gravenberch and Ekitike scored after making their respective runs between Keane and the left -sided middle back and Mykolenko as left. This is where Salah Gravenberch tried to find and where Gravenberch wanted to find Ekitike, which pointed to pattern slot to harm the Everton defense.
Keane and Tarkowski are both excellent center 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 the reason why no top club (with all respect for Everton) never set real money to secure their services. Both Gravenberch and Ekitike made their runs as cats, at great speed in the way they did what to do. Gravenberch hit his shot the first time, and for Ekitike it was a soft touch to stabilize the ball and a quick shot.
This is what Moyes should think about and are demonstrably asked to dive on the market to sign a center-back with sufficient speed to anticipate and prevents things like this. This is what Everton has with Branthwaite in their ranks, and probably the reason why the Toffees are so stubborn in his services in recent transfer windows.
Then coming
The blues will have to come across the disappointment of the derby quickly and find out for the coming trip to prevent Wolves in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. After that Moyes will have six whole days to let his men rest before he welcomes his old team – West Ham – in the newly built Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton stays on seven points after five rounds, so that they are now in the middle part of the table. Their exact position will probably change in one way or another before the weekend is over.
But it will certainly not change for Liverpool. The Reds lead the peloton 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 be calm to watch while Arsenal and Manchester City, their most likely title rivals for the campaign, are confronted on Sunday.
Then they welcome Southampton in the cup on Tuesday, before they travel to London to try to take some revenge for Crystal Palace that they beat in the Community Shield in August.
A final comment: this was the 21st game of David Moyes as a road manager at Anfield. He never won. It is most competitions for a manager who does not win at a location in the history of the Premier League.
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