Nick Ware

Wed 24 February 2021 11:38, UK

Carlo Ancelotti might be afforded the freedom of Everton after his Blues side sunk their Merseyside rivals 2-0 to claim their first Anfield win since 1999.

The previous encounter was a manic 2-2 draw on October 17 that saw the pendulum constantly swinging both ways but the Toffees mustered a much more mature performance this time around and were more than deserving of taking all three points.

While Liverpool were not in sparkling form coming into the fixture the facts were that they had scored in their last three games against RB Leipzig, Leicester City and Manchester City – some pretty elite company.

So just how did Ancelotti keep quiet the fabled Liverpool duo of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane who both struck in the reverse fixture?

At Goodison News we believe it was the role of the midfield three in the 5-3-2 formation that paved the way to glory, with particular credit to Abdoulaye Doucoure, Tom Davies and Andre Gomes.

But before we look at what brought success on Saturday we need to look at what went wrong beforehand, and the lessons Ancelotti learned from this.

The image below comes from the first Liverpool goal in October and show just how much space the visitors were awarded at Goodison Park.

The ball bypasses the Blues midfield trio of Allan, Doucoure and Gomes which immediately forces the backline to retreat and narrow, giving Andy Robertson the freedom of Merseyside down the left.

The action unfolds to leave Sadio Mane completely free between midfield and defence as Liverpool struck the first blow, and it all came from the huge gaps between the first and second line.

The same can be said of the second goal scored by Mohamed Salah.

Doucoure is nowhere to be seen here as Allan and Gomes are again bypassed after putting very little pressure on the ball.

You can see the shocking state of the defence on the left-hand side of the image below.

There is absolutely no structure whatsoever and this led to utter confusion and chaos.

The ball eventually falls to Salah who, like Mane, is left all on his own between defence and midfield.

The lack of pressure from the Everton midfield proved fatal to the chances of winning that fixture.

But things were completely different on Saturday.

As you can see below the Blues midfield is keeping a narrow shape in front of the back five and the gaps between them are minimal, ensuring through balls to the inside forwards are a less common occurrence.

It also means they can press as a group and get bodies around the ball as quickly as possible.

Playing a back five also allows the wing-backs to push up and engage in a one-v-one as Lucas Digne does here with Mohamed Salah.

While you can see a vast space opening between Digne and his left-centre back (Ben Godfrey), the deep defensive line allied to the French international’s body position and Godfrey’s pace means in actuality this is not a threat at all, and is why Salah has withdrawn from making his trademark run between defenders.

Salah does start to make the run as Digne closes Trent Alexander-Arnold on the ball but Godfrey continues his march across and the Liverpool full-back decides his best course of action is to shoot, which Jordan Pickford is equal to in the Everton goal.

Of course Pickford has had difficulties with long-distance efforts lately (see the Youri Tielemans goal for Leicester City) but it is much harder for Liverpool to score via this method with so many bodies closing the ball down.

The spaces between the Everton midfield and the defence is so small and this was such a contrast to the previous encounter between the sides.

Another example of this can be shown below with Gylfi Sigurdsson now joining Davies and Doucoure in the defensive midfield hub.

The gaps between the trio are slightly larger now but that is no concern with the ball 10 yards further away from the penalty area, and the shape is fantastic.

They create a triangle which blocks ground passes to those waiting on the edge while also allowing Sigurdsson to engage with the man in possession forcing a hurried cross into the box.

With three central defenders surrounding one red shirt this is food and drink for the defensive line who bat the ball away with consummate ease.

Everton actually had much less possession this time around (28% compared to 42% at Goodison Park) but the big difference was the issue of engagement.

Despite adopting a deeper position at Anfield the players knew their jobs and acted accordingly.

The spaces between defence and midfield were non-existent and this forced Liverpool’s inside forwards to retreat and adopt a more negative starting position.

This could be the route forward for Everton in this fixture.

In other Everton news, see our exclusive interview with Kevin Campbell for his reaction as the Blues broke his 22-year record.