Liverpool on Saturday shrugged off their disappointment of two winless games in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over derby rivals Everton at Anfield. Mohammad Salah scored both goals of the match. He converted a penalty in the 75th minute before scoring another deep in stoppage time. Everton put up a brave front after going down to 10 men in the first half but it wasn’t enough to secure a point. Liverpool climbed to the top of the Premier League table for the time being with the win.
Klopp made four changes to the side that drew with Brighton last time out. Konate, Tsimikas, Gravenberch and Jota, who returns after serving a one-match ban, all came in. Matip, Elliott and Nunez dropped to the bench, where Kelleher was also named after recovering from a knee problem. Andy Robertson is out with a shoulder injury he sustained on international duty.
Sean Dyche was clearly impressed with his team’s performance in the win over Bournemouth two weeks ago as he named an unchanged line-up from last time out. They were boosted by the return of Gueye, who was on the bench after recovering from a heel injury.
Everton started the game confidently but was pegged back towards the end of the first half when veteran defender Ashley Young was sent off after being shown a second yellow card. Diaz went up against the right-back and just managed to get a yard on him. Young slid in trying to make sure he didn’t get into the box, but caught Diaz’s leg when he shielded the ball. The Liverpool fans asked for a second yellow and the referee showed him one.
Liverpool was desperate for a breakthrough and it arrived after the 70th minute mark when Diaz’s cross hit Keane’s outstretched arm. The referee initially did not award a penalty but changed his mind after looking at the monitor. Mohammad Salah stepped up to take the spot kick and calmly slotted it home.
The Reds doubled their advantage deep into second half extra time through a simple tap in as Everton was caught on the break.
Liverpool vs Everton First XI
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Kostas Tsimikas; Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch; Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz.
Everton XI: Jordan Pickford; Ashley Young, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko; Jack Harrison, James Garner, Amadou Onana, Dwight McNeil; Abdoulaye Doucoure; Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
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