Alex Keble on how Dutch midfielder’s masterclass platformed Liverpool’s Merseyside derby success<\/p>\n
Football writer Alex Keble analyses the champions’ familiar struggles but highlights Ryan Gravenberch’s exceptional performance as key to victory.<\/p>\n
The final whistle was met with the usual celebration at Anfield, but also, more acutely than in years gone by, a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n
Liverpool<\/a> got the job done and for now that is enough for Arne Slot and his team, especially in the Merseyside derby, but this was another 90 minutes that asked more questions than we might have expected of the champions.<\/p>\n The anxious faces, the stony silence, the sea of Liverpool supporters watching the game through their fingers: it\u2019s becoming a common sight this season.<\/p>\n Granted, that on this occasion Liverpool did not need a late winner, nor did they come under substantial late pressure from the visitors. But 2-0 and cruising, for the fourth time this season Liverpool let the tide begin to turn against them.<\/p>\n Defensive frailties creep up again<\/p>\n It might seem unfair to focus on the defensive frailties of a side who have won all five of their Premier League matches this season, but the problems have been so frequent we simply have to shine a light on them again.<\/p>\n Liverpool were 2-0 up and cruising \u2013 for the fourth time this season \u2013 and it will worry Slot that his team played with so much anxiety in the second half, allowing a Jack Grealish<\/a>-inspired Everton<\/a> back in.<\/p>\n The issue is partly psychological; a vicious cycle in which the champions begin to feel jittery once they come under pressure at 2-0, as they did here by an Everton side who didn\u2019t wake up until the second half.<\/p>\n Everton attempted 10 tackles and made three interceptions in the first half, compared with 16 tackles and seven interceptions in the second half – almost twice the combined amount.<\/p>\n David Moyes got his side fired up after a sluggish opening in which Liverpool\u2019s established midfield of 2024\/25 – Alexis Mac Allister<\/a>, Dominik Szoboszlai<\/a> and Ryan Gravenberch<\/a>, after Florian Wirtz<\/a> started on the bench – carved open the midfield with ease.<\/p>\n Gravenberch’s brilliance<\/p>\n Gravenberch, exceptional throughout, scored a brilliant first before all three Liverpool midfielders combined in a flowing move to make it 2-0. Gravenberch became the youngest Liverpool player to both score and assist a goal in a Premier League Merseyside derby.<\/p>\n Watch: Gravenberch’s goal<\/p>\n That should have been that. Instead, once Everton upped the tempo Liverpool began to hesitate.<\/p>\n It will surprise nobody that the problems were in the full-back positions. Conor Bradley<\/a> had a tough time against Grealish and he mistakenly stepped off to allow the Everton winger to cross from the left. The ball sailed over a desperate Milos Kerkez<\/a> who, now prostrate, could do nothing about Idrissa Gueye<\/a>\u2019s finish.<\/p>\n Two full-back errors and the 2-0 lead was halved. We\u2019ve seen that before.<\/p>\n But we shouldn\u2019t be too negative. Slot has won five consecutive Premier League games for the very first time, and if Liverpool hadn\u2019t squandered a 2-0 lead three times already this season (albeit winning all three games late on) the way Liverpool held on here, relatively comfortably, would not have drawn much attention.<\/p>\n Then again, perception is important. In stoppage time a deathly quiet Anfield watched Everton built momentum in the final third. Liverpool cannot keep making a habit of this.<\/p>\n Slot’s verdict on where Liverpool can improve<\/p>\n