Everton 1 - 2 Liverpool
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Gana Gueye goes flying after yet another Liverpool foul
Well, the bad thing happened. And it happened in typically heartbreaking fashion — Virgil van Dijk cropping up with a header in the 100th minute to ensure Liverpool took the bragging rights from the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
A 2-1 loss in this fashion, to them, is gut-wrenching, but here are three things we learned from Sunday’s defeat.
Everton Are Cursed
Getting this one out of the way early. While we should not wallow in self-defeatism or derby misery, it is hard not to think that this simply would not have happened against pretty much any other club in the Premier League.
Hill Dickinson Stadium was rocking in the early afternoon sunshine, and the Toffees were the better side right up until the moment Mohamed Salah opened the scoring — that goal coming only a couple of minutes after wild celebrations for Iliman Ndiaye’s goal had been cut short by a VAR check, which deemed Jake O’Brien to have been offside in the build-up.
The Toffees were not brilliant, but their performance definitely merited at least a point. They had battled hard to get back into it through Beto’s equaliser.
But when it comes to facing Liverpool, even when the respective form of the clubs seems to suggest that this might just be the Toffees’ time to shine, Everton just seem to be cursed.
Everton Need Better
Thierno Barry and Tyrique George came on to try and swing the game in Everton’s favour — albeit, the former substitution was enforced by Beto taking a knock to the head — but ultimately, neither attacking change made the desired impact.
Barry failed to provide a platform to build off, while George, fresh from a bright cameo against Brentford last week, could not get into the game, and was not swift enough to release the ball when he had it to feet.
If Everton are to get to a level where they can really take advantage when they go into games like derbies, then simply put, the club need to start being bullish in the transfer market.
Last year, Everton spent plenty of money on players to fill out the squad, but bar Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish, none of them have made a real impact, with Barry at least scoring some important goals. That is simply not good enough, and this coming transfer window must be different.
Branthwaite's Issues Piling Up
It looks like Jarrad Branthwaite’s season could be over.
He was having an excellent game but, as the match entered its closing stages, he went down after a bad slip while trying to muscle Cody Gakpo out of play.
The centre-back’s right hamstring appeared to pull immediately, and after receiving treatment, Branthwaite had to be taken off on a stretcher. It was in the time added on because of that lengthy stoppage that Liverpool got their winner.
But we now know for certain that Branthwaite needs fixing. If Everton are to get the best out of him, then they need to solve his injury issues. If not, he may not fulfil his immense potential, and the Toffees will be worse off for it.
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Reader Comments (7)
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2 Posted 20/04/2026 at 13:17:27
3 Posted 20/04/2026 at 13:22:02
4 Posted 20/04/2026 at 13:28:40
I’m waiting for the present owners to prove they want success for Everton FC so they can sell us for a few £Billion, it’s early days for them here but they seem to have a bigger interest in Roma than us.
Time will tell.
5 Posted 20/04/2026 at 13:31:02
We were at least the equal of them yesterday but lacked the character to grab the game, seize the moments.
They have a deeper squad, that’s down to money.
Imagine a fit Richarlison instead of a pitiful Barry.
This Summer, our wheeling and dealings are so important from all angles.
We must add quality and players of the right character with a winning mentality. We have some quality but unless we add to them why would Ndiaye and Garner stay. They want to win things, why shouldn’t they.
We can’t spend £40m on players who don’t play all season. I’m not having a go at Dibling, simply those that chose to make the purchase at that price.
This Summer our dealings, with the full transfer committee in place, have to be better.
I really really don’t want to hear mentions of Soucek, Tete, etc makeweights and Moyes warhorses. No thanks. Do your job, identify talent with hunger.
We’re also going to find out more about TFG. Do they want us to be winners, or are they happy with improved financial performance.
The two go hand in hand, I hope they see it that way.
6 Posted 20/04/2026 at 13:35:40
We simply shit ourselves when we play them.
7 Posted 20/04/2026 at 13:40:28
P.s. Send Barry on loan to Marine.
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1 Posted 20/04/2026 at 12:50:52
We definitely need to be better and we also need the manager to be a lot braver because rather than feeling cursed, we should instead remember that old adage about making your own luck.
You simply can't have enough good players so, if Branthwaite is out of the team, we are definitely going to miss him, even though we haven't really had him fit all season.
He needs to get himself right because it's clear that we need to build our team around players like Jarrad Branthwaite and James Garner