Everton – Liverpool: Agent Rafa Completes The Assignment (1-4)
Derby day delight for Liverpool compounded heaps of Evertonian despair. Thanks to a fine inside job from an old red, the hosts’ wild approach was a clear second best to the fluidity and organization of an outfit that emphatically backed up their right to bid for the league title.
Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.
The tribalism of local rivalries has the power to turn a source of pride into the reason for torment. A familiar sense of disillusionment may have descended over Goodison Park, but for the blue half of Merseyside, this clash could be the lowest ebb of their anguish in a campaign of mounting turmoil.
The tables have taken a turn for the worse for Rafa Benítez. Holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at the start of October, his men are winless in their last seven games in the league, losing two on the spin. To sour the mood further, a latent sense of hatred rooted in old loyalties to Liverpool has made this dismal run all the more precarious for the manager, whose old employers were in red hot form.
If Everton look tired, Liverpool are simply rampant. Two points off of the summit, the credentials of their title bid in a three horse race are not in doubt. Moreover, bagging a 4-0 win over Southampton on the weekend, Jürgen Klopp's men are the league's most potent outfit with eight more goals than leaders Chelsea. So would they . . .
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