(Football news) A dominant Liverpool defeated fierce rivals Everton 2-0 at Anfield in the Premier League with Mohamed Salah (36) getting back on the scoresheet while new signing Cody Gakpo also found the back of the net in the 49th minute, giving the Reds invaluable three points. Jurgen Klopp had promised supporters that the team will get back to winning ways soon enough and his side never looked like they were on the backfoot in this fixture, dominating Everton right from kickoff until the final whistle and will head into more challenging fixtures against Newcastle and Real Madrid with some more confidence.
In team news, Everton’s 22-year-old striker Ellis Simms was given his second Premier League start with Sean Dyche making just one change from the team that defeated Arsenal. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was forced to miss out due to a hamstring problem while Michael Keane returned from injury and was a part of the Everton squad. As for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp made two changes with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho returning to the starting line-up while Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino featured on the bench as they were not 100% fit. The result meant that Liverpool leapfrogged Chelsea to occupy the ninth spot in the Premier League table and are currently nine points behind the fourth spot.
Speaking after the match, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said “Atmosphere was outstanding. I’m in love with our crowd – what they did tonight was extremely helpful and the boys paid back. It was a real derby with a difficult opponent but we played the game we wanted to play, not the game Everton wanted to play. We kept the ball, switching sides, staying patient, getting behind the line and I saw a real unit tonight where everyone was really fighting.
“And the goals we scored were two sensational counter attacks. Can you remember the last time we had that many options for the guy starting the counter attack? I can’t. Tonight we were there. That has to be the sign of what we have to do. We had 70 per cent of the ball and we scored two from counter attacks, that is really special.”
Everton manager Sean Dyche said “There’s more to come, I’m sure of that. The mentality’s good but we’ve got to play as well. I said to the players at half-time, you want to work, you want to fight but you’ve got to play as well. That next step is to play and be brave with the ball with the ball as well as without it. We’ve only been here a short time and asked a lot of the players. It’s quite a big feel in what we feel is correct, a lot of information given, and it doesn’t just click overnight. Last week we beat Arsenal, and I wasn’t jumping for joy.
“There’s work to be done, there was a sign of that today, but there was no lack of effort or work ethic. It’s still tough coming here, they might have had an indifferent time but they’re still a good side. The home crowd were amazing [against Arsenal] and we’re going to need that mentality away when we can’t fill the stadium, that inner mentality from the team. That grows with the confidence of the side, and on the training pitch with what we want to achieve as a group. We want bravery when we’re not at home. The margins are tight and they were again tonight”.
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