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Frank Lampard's Everton exposed a weakness in Liverpool that Villarreal can exploit
Merseyside derbies always matter, but Sunday’s came with more meaning attached than most.
For Liverpool, victory was enough to move them within a point of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League while defeat kept Everton in the bottom three.
Yet the 2-0 scoreline didn’t tell the whole story.
For an hour, Everton had Liverpool concerned. They made the match a difficult one for their title-chasing rivals who failed to muster a single shot on target in the first half. It certainly wasn’t the one-sided encounter many predicted before kick-off as Everton tested Liverpool like few have in recent weeks.
HT: Liverpool 0-0 Everton
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) April 24, 2022
‣ xG: 0.13-0.23
Everton frustrate their city rivals in the first half. The Merseyside Derby has been short on chances.#LIVEVE #MerseysideDerby pic.twitter.com/6nuXEYkHKa
Lampard gets it right
Perhaps for the first time since becoming Everton manager, Lampard acknowledged the shortcomings of his team and set them up accordingly.
The compact, conservative approach employed at Anfield was very different to the open system used by the former midfielder in previous Premier League matches. It was what was required on the day.
And it might be what Everton need to stay up this season. Burnley’s win over Wolves earlier in the day sent the Toffees into the bottom three and this was the first time Lampard’s Toffees played like they are in a relegation scrap.
With challenging fixtures against Chelsea, Leicester City and Arsenal still to come this season, this performance should be a template for Everton.
On paper, Lampard used a 4-3-3, but Anthony Gordon and Demarai Gray dropped back to prevent Liverpool from finding Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in space. It was, in effect, a deep-lying 4-4-2 with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Richarlison the most advanced players through the middle.
Everton allowed Liverpool to have the ball (there was a 10-minute spell in the first half during which Liverpool had 91% of possession while Allan completed just two passes in 73 minutes, both from kick-off), but their low defensive block was combined with a series of pressing triggers that saw the visitors close possession in ones and twos.
This was especially effective on Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita who were denied time and space to play through Everton from midfield.
Lampard instructed his players to slow the game down at every possible opportunity, denying Liverpool time to build rhythm. It was a highly effective ploy as the hosts grew increasingly frustrated at the fragmented nature of the contest.
Everton a threat on the counter
Everton weren’t just defensively dogged for the sake of it either. They carried a threat on the counter-attack with Anthony Gordon a particularly effective outlet down the left wing. Doucoure was also useful as a ball-carrier from deep as Everton ended the first half with a higher expected goals value than Liverpool (0.23 to 0.13) despite having just 17% of possession.
Of course, Everton only deserve so much credit for their performance at Anfield considering they lost, but the fundamentals they demonstrated could give them a platform to build on over the final six fixtures of the season. Lampard may well have absorbed those fundamentals during his days playing under Jose Mourinho.
The introduction of Luis Diaz and Divock Origi off the bench turned the match in Liverpool’s favour with the physicality of the latter particularly effective in unsettling an Everton defence that had been largely untroubled until that stage.
Klopp overloaded the final third with bodies and trusted they would find the space to make the difference. Andy Robertson and Origi obliged.
Liverpool 2-0 Everton
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) April 24, 2022
‣ xG: 1.68-0.52
The Reds survive a scare with an improved second half performance against Everton, who are now in deep trouble in regard to relegation.#LIVEVE #MerseysideDerby pic.twitter.com/cEkAIvi9nX
A blueprint for Villarreal
Another team besides Everton may also take encouragement from the way Everton prevented Liverpool from playing their own game for much of Sunday’s derby - Villarreal.
Unai Emery surely watched in preparation for Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final at Anfield and will have seen parallels between Everton’s game plan and the one that saw the Yellow Submarine sink Bayern Munich and Juventus.
With a bit more quality through the centre of the pitch, Everton could have claimed something at Anfield and Villarreal certainly have that in their team - see how Giovani Lo Celso and Dani Parejo picked apart Bayern Munich for the winning goal at the Allianz Arena.
Gordon also could have caused more damage had his final product been more refined - this won’t be an issue for Villarreal who boast Arnaut Danjuma, Samuel Chukwueze and Yeremi Pino in the wide areas.
Liverpool deserve credit for staying focused on the task at hand and ultimately breaking down Everton, but it’s at this stage of the season that title races and finals are decided by the smallest of margins and Everton might just have exposed where those margins are in matches against Klopp’s team.
Others could exploit them.
