Liverpool drew 1-1 with Everton today in a closely contested Merseyside derby, that looked any true brilliance.
Danny Ings opened the scoring, but Romelu Lukaku equalised at the end of the first-half, and the less said about the second the better.
Here’s how we rated the players.
Once again, Moreno and Sakho were best.
GK) Simon Mignolet – 7/10
Mad two good first-half saves and wasn’t at fault for the goal, although almost messed up in the 2nd when he failed to claim a looping cross.
DRC) Emre Can – 6/10
Needed a far better clearance for Everton’s goal, which was scored after the German clattered the ball sideways into Martin Skrtel instead of out of the area. Otherwise decent, but he’ll be remembered for the mistake.
DC) Martin Skrtel – 7/10
Dealt with an on form Romelu Lukaku very well, in fairness. Aerially strong and passed simply.
DLC) Mamadou Sakho – 8/10
Barely misplaced a pass all afternoon, and was composed and calm in all defensive aspects of his game. That was until Lukaku wound him up and he almost lost his head late on! But in truth, it just made us love him more.
WBR) Nathaniel Clyne – 6/10
Poor in possession at times, but feisty and hard working. A solid Merseyside derby debut, but didn’t provide much offensively down the right.
WBL) Alberto Moreno – 8/10
Moreno couldn’t get in the side at the start of the season, but in this formation he’s one of our best players. Moreno worked tirelessly up and down the left and defended very well, something he’s been guilty of not doing in the past.
MC) Lucas – 7.5/10 (Allen – 79′)
Subbed late on, and very, very lucky not to be sent off for a blatant second yellow. But other than that, Lucas was combative and energetic in the centre and competed excellently versus James McCarthy and Gareth Barry.
MC) James Milner – 5/10
Lazy tackles and shoddy passes symbolised a poor afternoon for the stand-in skipper.
AMC) Coutinho – 5/10
Anonymous for the entire afternoon, sadly. The Brazilian magician just simply couldn’t get into the game during a performance he’ll want to forget.
FC) Danny Ings – 7/10 (Lallana – 76′)
Got the goal, nodding in from a corner after losing marker Ross Barkley. Other than his goal he didn’t show too much quality, but is now our top scorer this season with three strikes.
FC) Daniel Sturridge – 5/10
We shouldn’t expect too much too soon after Sturridge’s injury, but following his brace last weekend it was easy to get excited. But he was off the pace today and struggled to get involved. Had no chances of note.
SUBS:
Lallana – 5/10 – Anonymous.
Allen – 6/10 – Tidy.
