Key events
Half-time: Liverpool 2-0 Everton
Liverpool lead courtesy of a delightful Ryan Gravenberch wonder-strike and a finish from Hugo Ekitike that was a lot more difficult than the French striker made it look. It was only after going two goals behind that Everton established something resembling a foothold in the game. Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye have been increasingly menacing on the wings for the visitors and both Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Idrissa Gueye will feel they should have scored.
45+1 min: Idrissa Gueye has a scuffed shot saved by Alisson after connecting with a low Grealish cross. He probably should have scored. It’s half-time.
44 min: Salah flaps his arms in frustration and then grins at Darren England, who didn’t share the Egyptian’s view that Mykolenko was climbing all over him as he tried to control a long ball from Alisson.
41 min: Enjoying their best spell of the game, Everton win a corner after grealish has a cross blocked. James Garner plays the ball shot to Grealish, makes a run to the edge of the area receive the return pass and has a low shot blocked by Ekitike.
39 min: “Ryan Gravenberch is only 23 years old and could become one of the best defensive midfielders in the world,” writes Andrew Goudie. “Not a bad signing for Liverpool when they pulled out of the race for Bellingham.” I would say Gravenberch is well on his way to being one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.
38 min: An Ndiaye cross from the right is a little behind Beto, who still manages to arch his neck and head over the bar. Not a bad effort, all things considered. Moments previously the duo combined after Alisson had given the ball away, only for Beto to shoot over the bar from a good position.
35 min: I got a lot of heat for my prediction that Everton would finish 19th and while it was made before they signed Grealish and Dibling, I had a fair idea they were on their way to Goodison Park Hill Dickinson but still think they might go down. They lost against Leeds, were extremely lucky to beat Brighton and weren’t all that great against Wolves either, in my humble opinion. Other, less humble opinions are available.
33 min: “Pitch dark greetings from California,” writes Mary Waltz. “I love how the ref is allowing tackles and not falling for the diving tactics of the players. And yes, I am still bitter about you picking Everton for relegation.”
32 min: Myolenko is penalised for a foul on Conor Bradley, moments after Jack Grealish felt he should have got a free-kick on the back of a tussle with the Liverpool defender.
30 min: Given Liverpool’s propensity for throwing away two-goal leads this season, it’s probably fair to say that after half an hour, Everton have their hosts exactly where they want them.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Everton (Ekitike 29)
Liverpool double their lead! Hugo Ekitike runs on to a beautifully weighted defence-splitting ball into the Everton penalty area from Ryan Gravenberch and slides the ball through the legs of Jordan Pickford.
28 min: Iliman Ndiaye gets the first yellow card of the game for manhandling Milos Kerkez to the ground after the Liverpool defender had dribbled past him.
27 min: Greaslish finally gives Bradley the slip and sklides a pass through the left side of the Liverpool penalty area into the path of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. His shot towards the near post from a narrow angle fizzes high and wide.
24 min: It’s a swing and a miss from Cody Gakpo, who pirouettes acrobatically while trying to connect with a cross from the right and smash it goalwards but doesn’t make clean contact with the ball.
22 min: Spotting his teammate’s run, Gueye plays a good ball from wide into the path of Beto, who beats the Liverpool offside trap. The ball skids on the turf, allowing Ibrahima Konate to nip in and put the ball out for a corner.
20 min: Liverpool’s fans spend the 20th minute serenading a much-loved and missed former player. “Oh his name is Diogo …”
19 min: Cody Gakpo tees up Alexis Mac Allister in a good position just inside the Everton penalty area but his shot is blocked. He had a good sight on goal and seconds later, Conor Bradley has a shot blocked by Vitaliy Mykolenko.
15 min: Mo Salah tries to Mo Salah the ball into the top corner from the edge of the Everton penalty area after cutting inside but his effort whistles wide of the woodwork. That’s just Mo doing Mo things but the technique demonstrated by Gravenberch in scoring that opener was quite extraordinary.
12 min: It’s a wonderful goal from Gravenberch, who advances through the right side of the Everton penalty area to fire a bouncing ball sent over the top by Mo Salah past Jordan Pickford with his outsatretched right foot. The ball was spinning away from him but he did superbly to direct it past the Everton goalkeeper under pressure from Tarkowski. It’s a finish any striker would be proud of, let alone a holding midfielder.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Everton (Gravenberch 11)
Liverpool lead! Ryan Gravenberch puts Liverpool ahead with a sensational finish!
9 min: Bradley wraps his arms around Jack Grealish and grapples him to the ground as the duo contest the ball. Grealish laughs when his appeals for a free-kick are ignored.
8 min: Van Dijk spreads the ball out left and wide to Cody Gakpo, who attempts a give and go with Milos Kerkez on the edge of the Everton penalty area. Iliman Ndiaye steps in to intercept and avert the danger on this occasion.
7 min: Salah crosses into the Everton penalty area from the right but Tarkowski leaps highest to skim the ball out towards the far touchline off the top of his head.
5 min: Bradley advances through the centre and plays a give-and-go with Mo Salah before continuing his run into the penalty area. The return pass from the Egyptian is poor and Everton dodge a bullet.
4 min: Conor Bradley is first to a Pickford kick-out towards Jack Grealish on the left touchline but the Liverpool right-back can only put the ball out for an Everton throw-in.
3 min: Jordan Pickford launches a free-kick from just outside his own penalty area into the Liverpool half and once again, the ball bounces through to Alisson.
2 min: A Jake O’Brien clearance is charged down and the ball goes out of play for an Everton throw-in deep inside their own half.
1 min: Everton launch the ball long towards Beto, but there’s too much weight on the pass and the striker is unable to reach the ball before it carries through to Alisson in the Liverpool goal.
Liverpool v Everton is go …
1 min: The match kicks off after some applause and appreciation for the former Liverpool players Joey Jones and Bobby Graham, who both died recently. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall gets the ball rolling for Everton.
Not long now: Referee Darren England and his team of match officials lead both sets of players out on to the rain-drenched pitch. Virgil van Dijk and James Tarkowski skipper the sides in this 247th Merseyside derby at a rocking Anfield and kick-off is just a few minutes away.
Arne Slot: In an interview with TNT Sports, Arne Slot says that Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz have been left on the bench because they don’t have the requisite match fitness for what is likely to be the most intense of the three games Liverpool will have played in the last seven days. The way he was talking, I expect we’ll see one or both players on the field before the 90 minutes are up.
Arne Slot: During his pre-match presser, Liverpool’s head coach was asked about the possibility of playing his summer signings Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike up front in the same team, either today or at some point in the future. “I consider many things and it depends always on how well they are doing,” he said. “If both of them are in the best form of their life then you consider more to play them together, but it is quite clear that we have a certain structure of 4-3-3.”
On today’s derby: “It’s going to be a difficult game. I don’t know exactly what they are going to do as they played long balls last season but are playing more out from the back this year. Our focus should be on what we need to do to win the game and that is being intense and winning duels.”
Slot also praised Everton for the respect and solidarity they showed in sending players and club officials to lay flowers at Anfield following the passing of Diogo Jota this summer. “They showed their respect and in these moments of time, it is so nice to see that in a time of tragedy, the respect to both is still there,” he said.
Everton striker Beto has also revealed that his Portuguese compatriot Jota texted him upon hearing he was signing for Everton, offering to help him out with any of the more mundane administrative aspects of moving to a new country in order to help him settle.
An email: “Greetings from Poland, where I’m struggling to find a pub showing the Merseyside derby and my mates, as is the Polish way, devote weekends to in-laws and grandparents,” writes Peadar De Burca. “The Guardian MBM is my Plan B, so I’ll be relying on your sturdy, no-frills prose to conjure the white knuckle exhilaration of one of football’s greatest rivalries. No pressure.”
Plan B?! Sturdy!?!? No frills!?!?!?!?? With backhanded compliments like that it’s small wonder Peadar’s Polish pals have fobbed him off by pretending to go visit their out-laws and elders, while secretly arranging to meet in a Scouse theme pub he doesn’t know about that specialises in showing Merseyside derbies.
David Moyes: “This has always been an incredibly difficult fixture for me because I’ve always come up against really good Liverpool teams,” said Everton’s head coach in his pre-match press conference. “I think it’s easier if you’re the team that has the stronger squad, but we’re up against it so we have to go there and fight for everything.”
On his opposite number, Arne Slot: “He has done a brilliant job. They have gone out and bought some top players, which has strengthened them again. They have definitely looked to improve even more than last season.”
Everton: David Moyes has never won at Liverpool in 22 attempts but the arrival of Jack Grealish at Everton has enhanced his armoury and could trouble the champions. Will Unwin reports …
Liverpool: The Premier League’s record signing for a few weeks this summer until he wasn’t, Florian Wirtz has admitted he is still coming to terms with the intensity of the Premier League but Arne Slot has mounted a stirring defence of the German, describing him as “an artist who can be mean as well”. Words: Will Unwin.
Liverpool v Everton line-ups
Liverpool: Alisson, Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Wirtz, Isak, Jones, Robertson, Frimpong, Ngumoha.
Everton: Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Garner, Gueye, Mykolenko, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Beto.
Subs: Travers, Patterson, McNeil, Barry, Dibling, Coleman, Alcaraz, Aznou, Iroegbunam.
Isak and Wirtz are on Liverpool’s bench
The news from Anfield is that Liverpool’s two record summer signings start their first Merseyside derby among the substitutes. Conor Bradley starts at right-back for the champions, while Dominik Szoboszlai is in midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch. Hugo Ekitike starts up front. Michael Keane continues deputising for Jarrad Brantwaithe, who is not in Everton’s matchday squad, while Beto starts up front. Vitaliy Mykolenko returns at left-back, with James Garner moving into midfield.
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Darren England
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Assistants: Lee Betts and Scott Ledger
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Fourth official: Bobby Madley
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VAR: John Brooks
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Assistant VAR: Akil Howson
Early team news
Liverpool boast a clean bill of health after the return from injury of midfiedler Curtis Jones, who wasn’t available for their past two games. Having played the best part of an hour on his debut for his new club against Atletico Madrid, Alexander Isak could start up front again. Alexis Mac Allister could be recalled to midfield for what promises to be a spicy encounter, while Slot has a decision to make in defence over whether to start Jeremie Frimpong, who played an hour on Wednesday after running from a hamstring injury, continue with Dominik Szoboszlai in a makeshift right-back role against Jack Grealish, or bring in Conor Bradley, who is more accustomed to playing at full-back.
Everton defenders Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitaliy Mykolenko are both in doubt for today’s game but haven’t been ruled out of contention by Moyes, who mentioned that a couple of other unspecified players have “knocks”. Having missed several good chances to win last weekend’s match against Aston Villa for his side, it will be interesting to see if the Everton coach keeps faith with Beto up front, or opts to start Thierno Barry, who has yet to score for the club he joined from Villarreal. The smart money would probably be on Beto getting the nod on the back of two good performances against Liverpool last season.
Premier League: Liverpool v Everton
In good news for Everton, their Merseyside rivals have been far from their best in the early stages of this season, even if it doesn’t seem to matter. Liverpool have won four out of four in the Premier League and on Wednesday night, scored yet another late goal to beat Atletico Madrid in their opening match of their Champions League campaign.
Everton go into this game having failed to take a point at Anfield in their last four visits, while their head coach, David Moyes, has failed to register a win at Liverpool’s ground in 22 attempts with different clubs. However, a fairly decent start to the season and the conspicuous return to form of Jack Grealish means that hopes of an upset are reasonably high. Kick-off at Anfield is at 12.30pm (BST) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
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