Liverpool 2 Everton 1, Post Match Raw takeaways

First half control and midfield balance

On AI Pro’s Post Match Raw with Trev Downey, Dave Hendrick set the tone. “I thought first half we were largely very very good,” and “having last season’s midfield back gave us a lot more balance.” He doubled down on the quality, “The goal was outstanding,” and “I did think first half was some of the best football we’ve played so far this season,” even calling it “probably the best half that we’ve had this season.” The praise came with a line on Ryan Gravenberch, “Ryan Gravenberch continues to morph into a Yaya Toure-esque midfielder.”

Second half passivity and what it means

Karl Matchett explained the change after the break. “We just seem to be extremely good when we’re playing football at a fast tempo,” he said, “but we’ve got to sort out what we do when we’re not doing that bit.” The pattern bothered him, “We’re just so passive at the minute in those spells of matches,” with the reminder that “there’s still got to be a bit of a purpose to the football.” He added, “When we’re not playing very quickly in attack we’re not playing at all. And it’s very very I think passive is just the word I would use. We don’t really seem to have a direction to that kind of play.”

Dave agreed on the drop, while keeping the derby in context. “Second half just wasn’t good at all,” and “me and Karl had said we both think Everton are much improved this year as a footballing team.” It led to a rare concession, “For the first time in as long as I can remember, Everton to an extent outplayed us second half,” before he anchored the mood, “Any win in the derby is a good win,” and, crucially, “It’s five wins from five in the league, six from six in all competitions.”

Photo: IMAGO

Everton evolution under Moyes

Asked by Trev to outline the visitors, Karl was succinct. “There being a football team for starters, that’s the big change,” then, “It’s pretty much an all round team, isn’t it? We saw today they can play out pretty quick on the counterattack, they’ve got really good outlets down the flank, they are a bit of a threat still on set pieces.” He compared their progress to “this time last year,” calling them “unrecognisable,” and concluded, “I think he’s done a really really good job.”

Dave isolated the concession and its root cause. “I’d like to stop the cross,” he said, because “Bradley… stands too far off Grealish [sic]… Grealish gets a bunch of separation, clips that ball in… it’s a really good knockdown… and it’s a great finish by Gueye [.”

Moments that mattered in the derby

On the first goal, Trev and Dave were effusive. “It’s an outrageous goal,” Dave said, “completely 100% deliberate,” and “We might not see a better finish in that all season, like genuinely.” Karl then highlighted the second, praising the centre forward’s speed of thought, “What I really liked about Ekitike’s actual finish at the end was just how quickly he took it… one touch to control and then hit it in the same step almost.”

Late on, Hendrick credited the defensive axis. “I did feel like as long as I Virgil were still playing at the same high level, they were going to struggle to get real chances… they didn’t have that incisiveness they really needed in the final third.” The verdict was clear from the contributors. As Dave put it, “I did think we deserved the win overall,” and “you really can’t find too many things to gripe about if you’re a Liverpool fan right now.”