Jordan Pickford and Alisson put in man-of-the-match performances from the opposite sides of the Goodison Park pitch in Saturday’s Merseyside derby.
Jurgen Klopp made a big call in dropping the in-form Roberto Firmino for the must-win fixture and replacing him at the front of his side’s attack with summer signing Darwin Nunez.
But the decision backfired somewhat with the Reds struggling to find their rhythm in a physical clash with their historic rivals.
Everton came closest to winning the contest with Conor Coady putting the ball in the back of the net, but a VAR check showed the former Wolves star was fractionally offside.
Here are the winners and losers from this Saturday’s derby.
Who was your man-of-the-match in Everton’s draw with Liverpool? Make your suggestions in the comments below
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REUTERS)
WINNERS
Jordan Pickford
The England international has had his critics over the years but he was at his best in Everton’s most important fixture of the season.
The shot-stopped was at full stretch to turn a Darwin Nunez shot onto the bar in the first half of the derby before Klopp introduced Roberto Firmino to the mix, who had a couple of clear-cut chances to put the Reds ahead.
But despite the in-form Brazilian’s best efforts, Pickford showed strong wrists to parry a number of dangerous chances wide.
Pickford made a total of eight saves against Liverpool, leaving Klopp and co. incredibly frustrated.
Allison
On the opposite side of the pitch, Liverpool’s shot-stopper also had a game to remember between the sticks.
New Everton signing Neal Maupay will be wondering for some time how he was unable to beat Alisson in a one-on-one after the Brazilian stayed big in his goal and parried a gilt-edged chance wide.
Dwight McNeil also came close to scoring for the Toffees with just seven minutes left on the clock when he fired a chance into the top left corner of Alisson’s goal, but the Brazilian was once again equal to it and tipped the ball wide.
LOSERS
Darwin Nunez
At the expense of the in-form Firmino, Liverpool’s big-money summer signing was thrown into the deep end for the trip to Everton after returning from his three-match suspension for headbutting Crystal Palace’s Joachim Anderson.
And whether it was down to a lack of match fitness or him still finding his feet in a new team and new league, Nunez never really put a serious stamp on the game.
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Action Images via Reuters)
The striker’s best chance to score came in the first half when his shot was tapped onto the crossbar by Jordan Pickford. But he rather fluffed his other chances – two tame headers; one wildly wide and the other over the bar, the stand-out examples.
Klopp persevered and kept the forward on until 10 minutes before the end, but with little changing in what Nunez was providing up top, the German hooked Nunez for the returning Diogo Jota.
Fabio Carvalho
The young Liverpool midfielder stole the headlines on Wednesday night when he netted the winner in his side’s last-gasp victory over Newcastle, the day after his 20th birthday.
But the former Fulham man was brought back down to earth with a bang in the Merseyside derby on Saturday.
Carvalho is small in stature, which enables him to effectively go missing on a football pitch, find space, and pop up at the right moments to change a game.
But in his first Premier League start from the Reds on Saturday, Carvalho was rather overawed by the physicality of the fixture as Everton made a point of dominating the centre of Goodison Park.
His defining moment from the first half came when he clashed knees with Amadou Onana – coming off second best.
Carvalho returned to his feet and so out the first 45 minutes, but was even more distant after doing so and was hooked by Jurgen Klopp at the half-time break.
