The 231st Merseyside derby came to an end with both the teams, Everton and Liverpool, sharing the spoils with a 0-0 draw. Either of the sides had their chances but they somehow lacked the intent to come out on the top of another and get the ball into the net on the other end, which resulted in them to be content with a point each from this match.
While Liverpool came out without a number of their first team players in their side, Jurgen Klopp rightly making the decision of resting them before the mega midweek clash against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the UEFA Champions League. Though the Reds have already taken a lead of 3-0 over the Premier League champion elects for the season in the first leg of the competition, their German manager refrained from taking any risk and keep his aces ready for the second leg against an opposition, who have already beaten them 5-0 in the Premier League earlier this term.
The Toffees, on the other hand, are coming off a heavy drubbing at the hands of the same opposition, that is, Manchester City in their last league match. Sam Allardyce had all his ammunition at disposal and came out with a first choice team to face the derby rivals.
However, none of the Everton players looked at their prime and failed to get anything in the net of their Merseyside opponents. Barring a few sparks of individual brilliance, there was nothing much to mention about their performance as Big Sam had to satisfy with a lacklustre draw.
Following are the player ratings for Everton from the match against Liverpool.
Jordan Pickford: 8/10
The England number one elect for the upcoming World Cup looked in good shape and made a few crucial saves to keep his side in the match. Fast becoming an asset for his club as well as the national team it seems.
Seamus Coleman: 5/10
Looked nowhere near his best form against Sadio Mane and tried to come back strongly in the second half.
Phil Jagielka: 7/10
Brought his experience into the play against the likes of Danny Ings and Dominic Solanke and looked pretty solid in the heart of the defence for the Blues.
Michael Keane: 7/10
Dished out a calm and composed performance and complemented Jagielka well to keep the opposition strikers at bay.
Leighton Baines: 6/10
Was more concentrated on his defensive duties except for a few occasions when he ran up the pitch to assist the attackers.
Tom Davies: 6/10
Did not look at his best either and was caught off guard quite a few times in the middle. Was substituted later in the second half.
Morgan Schneiderlin: 7/10
Looked more like the Schneiderlin we were used to seeing during his Southampton days. Had a calming influence on the game and was well concentrated on his job of keeping the ball under control and its proper distribution.
Wayne Rooney: 5/10
His aura seems to be fading of late as the Englishman looked like a novice for the most part of the match until he was taken off in the second half.
Theo Walcott: 6/10
Looked like an ardent attacker from the word go but wasn’t able to strike the hammer blow when it mattered the most.
Cenk Tosun: 6/10
Tried to replicate his brilliant form in the recent matches but could not make it a successful outing. Could have left it late towards the closure of the match.
Yannick Bolasie: 5/10
A rather wasteful evening for the Congolese attacker as he did nothing other than testing Karius once with a long-range effort in the first half.
Substitutes
Idrissa Gueye: 7/10
Put in another industrious performance since coming on. Should have started in place of Davies.
