This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Liverpool’s victory against Everton means they have now won 14 out of their first 15 games in the Premier League this term, and they have preserved their eight-point lead at the top of the table. It was the way they did that was particularly impressive.
On the chalkboard
This victory now takes Jurgen Klopp’s team’s unbeaten run to 32 matches, which is a new club record. Surprisingly. he made five changes to the side that beat Brighton at the weekend, including Xherdan Shaqiri coming in for Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi replacing Roberto Firmino. The 5-2 triumph proved the German manager’s decision to rotate right.
Having seen Richarlison score just before half-time, though, Marco Silva will have been hoping they could have put more pressure on their opponents after the break. However, the Reds’ second-half performance controlled the game and displayed their title credentials.
Controlled
The Anfield outfit raced into a 2-0 lead, with them scoring twice in the first 17 minutes. However, Michael Keane scored just four minutes after the second and, although Liverpool scored twice more before the interval, Richarlison bagged in the 45th minute.
The match was far too open, and Klopp will have likely had a small worry that his team could crumble when they came back out of the dressing room. After all, it was a local derby and, the Toffees actually managed more shots than their opponents in the first half. It was just that the Reds were particularly clinical.
However, the Reds closed out the match in impressive fashion. Their possession went up by two percent from 58% to 60%, whilst they also reduced Everton to half as many attempts.
This is especially intriguing considering that Silva’s men were chasing the game at the point, and should, therefore, have been putting on far more pressure than they were allowed to. In terms of shots inside the box, the visitors had just one compared to seven in the first half.
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They also appeared to battle a lot harder, winning 40 duels in the second half compared to 28 in the first period. Overall, Klopp’s side made sure that they didn’t let their opponents back into the game, and they did that with relative ease.
This is not the last time they will be tested and will need to rely on their composure to see out matches. This, therefore, will have been a beautiful sight for the 52-year-old boss, perhaps even more so than some of the well-worked goals he also saw.
In other news, Liverpool fans react to one man’s Ballon d’Or placing.
