Liverpool continue their unbeaten run with another win against Everton as Anfield closed after Slot’s men won by a feather’s edge with the game ending 2-1.
David Moyes knew about the team he was going to face as the Scotsman previously compared Arne’s Reds to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
A meritorious comparison indeed, but the Merseysiders did look sloppy in the second half. Despite a dominating performance in the first 45 minutes, Liverpool could’ve done better in the second half as Idrissa Gueye did steal one back in the 58th minute.
A cross from Jack Grealish landed into Iliman Ndiaye’s feet, which the Senegalese then set the ball for Gueye. Idrissa didn’t take it easy, smashing the ball into the top left corner of the goal.
The Reds, on the other hand, had finished their goal-scoring parade in the first half. Ryan Gravenberch opened the books with a lob over Jordan Pickford in the 10th minute.
£69m striker Hugo Ekitike continued the streak by placing the ball into the far corner in the 29th minute. However, attacking-wise, things were slow in the second half, with the Blues leading in aggressiveness overall.
Another surprising factor was the Reds not losing their lead moving into the second half, as previously they had become notorious with injury-time winners.
Quiz: Can you name the team Liverpool sold these players to?
Arne Slot praises Liverpool’s mentality vs Everton
Hugo Ekitike scored his first Merseyside Derby goal (Credits: Imago Images)
Gaffer Arne Slot agrees energy-wise, as the Dutchman claims that the club did run out of energy in the second half, but was adamant on the mentality part.
“Again, we needed mentality today, in a different fashion maybe than the few times before, but we always knew how difficult a game this would be, let alone if you don’t have proper preparation time.”
“But if you played your third game in seven days against your rivals, then you know that the second half could be very tough, and that’s why I made my lineups throughout the week, as I did for the players to be ready for this one, because this was the most intense from the three.”
“We knew this before, and you could see how well we can play if we are fresh. The first 45 minutes, it was unbelievable the way we played.”
“The second half was more difficult because of Everton, of course, but also because we ran a bit out of energy, but we didn’t run out of mentality”, Slot told the media.
