Another Merseyside Derby, another Liverpool win. The Reds kept their Champions League hopes alive with a 3-1 win at Anfield over an Everton side that wasn’t very competitive for the whole 90 minutes, looking dangerous for very few minutes.
With the win, Liverpool climb momentarily to 3rd while Everton are probably out of the Champions League race, not too far behind to catch up with the top 4. It seemed that the Toffees were spending more time knocking down Liverpool players than trying to make a comeback once they realized their efforts in terms of football weren’t going to be enough.
In terms of goals, Sadio Mane scored the opener for Liverpool. He also scored the winner for the Reds in the previous derby this season at Goodison Park. Matthew Pennington took advantage of Liverpool’s poor defensive form in set pieces, but a terrific Philippe Coutinho finish gave the home side a 2-1 lead before they went off to the break.
Mane was injured by Ross Barkley which brought on Divock Origi a lot sooner than Jurgen Klopp had planned. While this may be a big issue for the Reds in the final 8 fixtures of the season, the Belgian striker scored a poor Joel Robles to make it 3-1.
With the win, Liverpool extend their unbeaten run against Everton to 14 matches, dating back to October 2010. At Anfield, Everton haven’t been able to beat Liverpool since September 1999. Liverpool also maintain their terrific record against clubs in the top half of the Premier League, currently with 9 wins in 15 matches without a single defeat. They’re only 3rd (realistically outside the top 4), which goes to show how poor their form has been against the weaker sides in the Premier League.
Liverpool currently hold the edge over Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal, although the two Manchester sides can blow past them in the table if they win their matches in hand. Arsenal, for now, seem like a side that’s incapable of catching up, which won’t just mean the end of their top 4 streak, but also the official end of Arsene Wenger at the job. Everton remain a club that seems to bother the big clubs on occasion, but when it comes to making the leap into the Champions League, especially when it’s against their city rivals, they tend to choke.