Everton vs Liverpool: Instant Reaction | Stalemate

Everton battled hard showing a side to the team that we’ve only seen rarely this season.

The first half could be appropriately dubbed the ‘long ball derby’ as both sides pried and probed without coming too close. As the half wore on Everton’s workrate seemed to tail off and a mistake from Morgan Schneiderlin gave Mohamed Salah a clear look at goal, but Jordan Pickford saved his blushes with a fine save to keep the game even.

The Blues were certainly aggressive like Marco Silva had asked them to be, but the manager seemed to have whiffed on the Theo Walcott selection once again as the ageing winger put in an unconvincing shift.

The midfield pair of Schneiderlin and Idrissa Gueye worked hard as they usually do but the Blues didn’t create much and had to scramble every time Liverpool counterattacked. Silva really has to address the Toffees’ apparent panic whenever they do have possession.

The second half started with the Blues going towards the Gwladys Street End but it was more of the same, with referee Martin Atkinsons hearing an earful as always.

Richarlison came on and went out right for Walcott, while Cenk Tosun and Andre Gomes replaced Dominic Calvert-Lewin (who had toiled gamely) and Schneiderlin (decent enough game for the Frenchman) respectively later in the half.

Lucas Digne made a couple of critical defensive actions and rounded off another strong performance from the left back, with the game eventually petering out to a 0-0 draw.

Phew.