A slow start to the Merseyside derby proved costly as Everton lost 2-1 to Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

David Moyes’s side, arriving into the game on the back of a three-game unbeaten run, were passive in the early quarters and invited Liverpool to press and create danger in their own half. This approach inevitably led to goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike and the game was effectively wrapped up inside the opening half hour of the contest.

The half-time break proved to be a turning point as Everton were far better in the second 45 minutes. Idrissa Gueye scored with a superb strike to pull one back for his side but, despite a few half-chances here and there, the Blues failed to snatch a point from the game.

A clear case of a game of two halves, Everton’s mistakes at the start cost them dearly. It was reminiscent of their performance in the 1-0 loss to Leeds United in their season opener.

Here are the major talking points in the aftermath of the Merseyside derby:

Slow start to the game proved costly

Everton began the Merseyside derby with a passive approach and were no match for Liverpool’s intensity. It’s surprising given that their opponents, despite possessing younger and faster players all over the pitch, had a gruelling midweek Champions League game against Atletico Madrid.

The Blues also failed to sustain possession for long intervals in the first half. Their only strategy to play out of the Liverpool press was to play the ball back to Jordan Pickford, watch him hoof it to Beto and hope for the best. It didn’t work even once.

Reminiscent of their false start against Leeds United on opening day, Everton invited their own troubles and the match was practically decided within 30 minutes after the hosts scored twice from two chances.

The Blues sorely missed Jarrad Branthwaite

An injury to Jarrad Branthwaite threatened to complicate Everton’s start to the season but they had coped with his absence well. However, the derby against Liverpool was their first test against a top side and Branthwaite was sorely missed.

In the case of both goals scored by Liverpool, it’s hard to point fingers at James Tarkowski and Michael Keane. They didn’t make any obvious errors and yet, Slot’s rapid attackers and midfielders often exploited gaps in the middle.

At the risk of venturing into “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve” territory, Branthwaite’s pace, towering presence and acute positional and defensive awareness could’ve probably avoided the situations that led to the Liverpool goals.

The Blues are a far better side with him commanding the backline and there's no doubt that his return will elevate Everton to a better level.

Lack of mobile fullbacks will be a hindrance against top sides

The lack of mobile fullbacks capable of contributing to the buildup was exposed in the game against Liverpool. Both Jake O’Brien and Vitalii Mykolenko can do a fine job defensively but they offer little going forward.

Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye were constantly engaged in 1v2 or even 1v3 duels on their flanks and with little assistance and offensive threat from their fullbacks, they failed to avoid attention from their markers.

As brilliant and creative as these two players are, they cannot solve everything on their own. 

Beto offers nothing

Beto’s first half against Liverpool at Anfield was a case study in what a striker shouldn't do. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Everton’s Number 9 was invisible for the entire half and offered absolutely nothing to his side.

The Guinea-Bissau international was so clearly out of his depth that it seemed like Everton were playing with a man down for extended durations. He failed to engage his opposite centre-halves physically, didn’t win duels and scraps for the ball, wasn’t able to offer himself as a passing option or make runs in behind, and didn’t press the opposition defenders.

Slow, lethargic and inefficient, Beto’s half could probably be summed up in two moments: when he failed to judge the trajectory of a pass similar to the Gravenberch chance and when his pathetic first touch turned a simple 5-yard pass without any pressure into a give-away to the opposition.

Thierno Barry isn't the finished article either but giving him game time and allowing him to develop and grow into the Premier League is going to be a more fruitful exercise than persisting with Beto in these kinds of games.

Reader Comments (4)

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Dennis Stevens
1 Posted 21/09/2025 at 09:14:57
Given the Club seemed very unlikely to splash the cash necessary to sign a top striker, even if they could be lured to the Club, & the intention always seemed to be to loan or sell Chermiti, it seems odd not to find an accommodation with DCL to ensure we retained his services for another couple of seasons. Fingers crossed that Barry comes good, but it will probably take time. However, with only Barry & Beto as centre forwards, I do wonder whether the Club will feel it necessary to go back into the transfer market. I just hope that we don't have to sell before we can buy.
Ralph Basnett
2 Posted 21/09/2025 at 09:22:52
TBH neither are up to it. If you want a striker to hit the ground running its 50 mill plus otherwise keep your money in the bank!

20-30 mill does not buy you a prem striker, it buys you potential, if that potential does not come to fruition then its wasted money, keep your money in the bank!
We have not had a striker since Lukaku in 2017, nearly ten years ago. If we had saved all the money we have spunked on strikers since then we would have saved enough to buy an actual striker, until you find the man you want keep your money in the bank!

We can all be keyboard managers, but all of us keyboard managers are saying the same thing!

James Marshall
5 Posted 21/09/2025 at 09:32:57
Lets face it, the RS are streets ahead of us in every department - that shouldn't be news to anyone, and coming away from there losing 2-1 wasn't the end of the world.

They're the best team in the country and one of the best teams in the world - we're not.

It's only because it's 'them' that people get so emotional about losing to them, and as a result we dissect this game more than any other. TW is full of post-match threads which is the new clickbait style the site is going for because it creates more hysteria, more footfall, and more site hits. Every thread is full of the same comments - it's smart site marketing and whips up an even bigger frenzy than it usually does.

On the game itself, I thought we were decent, especially after the RS could have blown us away in the first half. 2-0 was reasonable given how good they are, and how awful we are up front.

This to me is our key battle this season - we have a good side but 2 ineffective strikers. I don't care what people say about how Beto tries hard because there can be no doubt, he's extremely limited as a footballer. Barry is very young and very raw, and could come good in time.

Our problem is not our team, nor is it our manager, it's our 2 strikers. Top strikers are very hard to come by unless you're A) a top of the table side, B) loaded and can spend upwards of £70m, and C) in Europe.

We're none of those things hence why we have Beto and/or Barry up front. It's the very reason why we'll likely finish in mid table this year and feel frustrated often in games because we simply don't have a finisher up top. Neither of them have particularly good movement either which doesn't help us. Beto tries to make runs but he often runs looking over his shoulder for the ball, rather than making runs with positive intent.

Pickford booting over the top isn't helping either because Beto has an awful first touch and wins next to nothing in the air. Barry looks better getting the ball to feet, but against teams like the RS we're always going to struggle to get balls to feet. We will pick up most of our points this year against the lower and mid table sides - if we somehow manage to pick up a quality striker in the next couple of years then things will start to change.

Jim Bennings
6 Posted 21/09/2025 at 09:42:13
In the cold light of day it felt like we won't get many better chances in the near future to get a result there.

Yes they are streets ahead of us but based on how the game went, you could visibly see that they were coming off the back of a hard game on Wednesday night, the second half they faded and were looking jaded.

We do what we often do there early on and get lost in the start of the game, we always seem to be drowned by the pre match noise and chanting which soon dies down.

When all is said and done I'm glad to get that fixture out of the way early, it's done with, over, 2-1 loss not that bad, sad we have that mentality but our Merseyside derby record for 25 years has been atrocious.

On to Tuesday night when we must win.

These next two matches do concern me a bit though because they are two typical "Everton that" matches where the opposition are dreadful and on the verge of sacking a manager, then along comes the football doctor Everton to temporarily ease woes.

We'll see how far we have come in these next two I dare say.

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