Liverpool produced a dynamic attacking performance to slice Everton apart at Anfield in a 5-2 victory that made it a club record 32 league games without defeat, while heaping more pressure on Marco Silva as his side slipped into the relegation zone.
Eyebrows were raised when Jurgen Klopp named Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino on the bench and included Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi - but they claimed three goals between them as the manager was proved right to make changes.
Origi, fast becoming the scourge of Everton fans, scored two great goals while the returning Xherdan Shaqiri and the excellent Sadio Mane also bagged in a pulsating first half - that also saw Everton score twice.
Michael Keane and Richarlison scored in front of the Kop as Klopp's side still showed their defensive fragility that they're struggling with this season - as it gave the visitors some hope in a game they were largely second best in.
It was the perfect start for the hosts who carved Everton open after just six minutes with Mane slipping a sumptuous ball through for Origi to get in between defender and keeper to round Jordan Pickford and slot home.
After the Belgian headed in that infamous 96th minute winner in last season’s fixture, almost a year to the day later he repeated the dose at the very start of this contest.
It was 2-0 on 17 minutes from a glorious move – Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross-field ball was controlled by Mane, who then fed in Shaqiri for a next finish from the Swiss making a rare start.
Everton couldn’t lay a glove on the Reds, but they produced an almost instant response as Keane dinked in a nice finish when a cross wasn’t cleared properly by Dejvan Lovren.
There was barely half an hour on the clock when Mane made it 3-1 in a blistering attack from an Everton corner, with Liverpool sweeping forward through Alexander-Arnold who fed Mane to curl in what looked to have already been the decider.
Klopp’s side were a bit loose at the back throughout though, and before the half was out Richarlison managed to stoop and head in a second Everton goal in the Kop end to give them something to cling on to for the second half.
After such an outrageous first 45 minutes, the second was always going to struggle to live up to that, although both sides continued to create chances – Everton looking dangerous on set plays with Richarlison in particular missing a great chance.
Mane should have really claimed a hat-trick when he missed two sitter later on, before Georginio Wijnaldum wrapped up the victory wih the only goal of the second half late on.
Liverpool 5-2 Everton Opta stats
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 32 Premier League games (W27 D5), their longest ever run without defeat in top-flight history.
- Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has won 100 of his 159 Premier League games, he is the second fastest manager to reach 100 wins in the competition, after José Mourinho (142 games). In fact, he is the fastest Liverpool manager to 100 wins in top-flight history.
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 18 Premier League games against Everton (W8 D10). It’s their longest ever unbeaten run against a specific opponent in the competition.
- Everton find themselves in the relegation zone after playing at least 15 Premier League matches for the first time since April 10th 1999 (after 32 games).
- Marco Silva is the first Everton manager to concede five league goals against Liverpool in a single match since Howard Kendall in November 1982 (0-5 against Bob Paisley’s Liverpool).
- Sadio Mane has assisted twice in a Premier League game for the first time since March 2018 v Watford. In fact, before today, the Senegalese forward hadn’t recorded an assist at Anfield in all competitions in 40 appearances since that game against Watford.
- Divock Origi has scored five Premier League goals against Everton; only Robbie Fowler (6) and Steven Gerrard (9) have scored more PL goals for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby. Indeed, Origi has now scored in all four matches against Everton for Liverpool at Anfield (five goals).
- Since the start of last season, Trent Alexander-Arnold has provided more Premier League assists than any other player (18), with 15 of those coming in 2019.