Everton player ratings v Liverpool: Anthony Gordon embarrasses in 3/10
Everton sank into the Premier League relegation zone as they fell to defeat away at Liverpool in a feisty Merseyside derby at Anfield.
It took over an hour for the hosts to break the deadlock as Andy Robertson ghosted into the area to head in a chipped cross by Mohamed Salah after such stern defence from Frank Lampard’s men.
Divock Origi came back to haunt Everton again as he headed in a scuffed overhead kick to double the title-chasers’ lead with six minutes to play.
The Toffees tried to be resolute but defeat against their city rivals sees them drop into the bottom three after Burnley beat Wolves at Turf Moor to pull themselves out of trouble, for now.
Jordan Pickford – 6
As is so often the case, Pickford made a couple of crucial saves to keep the Toffees in the game without pulling off anything spectacular. He maybe could have done better for Robertson’s goal but that would be clutching at straws.
Seamus Coleman – 8
Our skipper absolutely lives for this fixture and you could see every ounce of his passion today. The Irishman was right involved in every scuffle and tussle between players and went full-blooded into every challenge to lead by example for those wearing Blue.
Michael Keane – 5
Thrown into the game at the last minute after Ben Godfrey pulled up in the warm-up, Keane looked solid in the first half but as Liverpool turned the screw attacking the Kop, he began to be shakier and shakier and the Reds capitalised.
Mason Holgate – 6
Unlike his partner in crime at the back, he knew he’d be starting sooner than 15 minutes prior to kick-off. He was a little more assured when Liverpool ramped up the pressure but still not solid enough to warrant him sticking around beyond the end of this season.
Vitaliy Mykolenko – 7
Mykolenko had the unenviable task of trying to keep that electric Liverpool right-hand side as quiet as he could and give him his due, he was very good one on one. Salah wasn’t the usual destructive outlet and even Trent Alexander-Arnold couldn’t bomb beyond the Ukrainian as often as he’d have liked.
Allan – 5
Protecting the back four is all that Allan was asked to do and while he did so competently enough, for the most part, it was still a very quiet day for the Brazilian. You wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t on the pitch, to be honest.
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 6
A non-stop running effort in midfield is exactly what Everton needed and so Doucoure provided it. He was trying to bomb forward at every opportunity to provide the attack with support while tracking as much as he could going in the opposite direction but it was only running and he did next to nothing on the ball.
Alex Iwobi – 6
Have we finally found Iwobi’s best position? Even he won’t have known how good he could be as a box-to-box midfielder but his endless bundle of energy seems to have massively helped the balance of this Everton side and he was again amongst it all at Anfield without being overly effective in the final third.
Demarai Gray – 4
In complete contrast to the player on the other flank, Gray was virtually anonymous at Anfield. The Englishman wasn’t even marked out of the game by his opposite number, he was just really bad and the least effective of the Toffees’ front three.
Anthony Gordon – 3
While he should have been given more fouls than he was by virtue of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip giving him a right shove in the back, it was not vintage by the 21-year-old today. His embarrassing dive in the first half rather summed up his day as he looked to win fouls rather than the game.
Richarlison – 6
It was another unenviable task for Richarlison as every hacked clearance by the Toffees was dependent on him holding it up against two very physical defenders. He gave it his all and was able to set up the odd counter-attack but it was an overall average day for the Brazilian.
Substitutes:
Dele Alli (on for Allan 72′) – 6
Salomon Rondon (on for Gray 77′) – 5
In other Everton news, the city’s mayor has been waxing lyrical about the Toffees’ new stadium plans.
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