Talking points: Trent's touching tribute, a captain's display and more
Liverpool delivered a supreme derby performance to defeat Everton 4-1 at Goodison Park.
The Reds dominated Wednesday night’s clash from first whistle to last, with stunning finishes by Jordan Henderson and Diogo Jota sandwiching a typically brilliant double from Mohamed Salah.
Here are five post-match talking points…
For Ava
Trent Alexander-Arnold paid a touching post-match tribute to Ava White, who tragically passed away at the age of 12 following an assault in Liverpool city centre last week.
A red and blue anti-knives banner was displayed, while home and away supporters joined together for a round of applause in Ava’s memory in the 12th minute of the match as the city united in opposition of senseless violence.
Leading by example
Denied a stoppage-time winner by a VAR call of the finest margins at Goodison last season, Henderson got the Reds up and running with a high-calibre finish that was the highlight of a commanding individual display.
The skipper started the move himself by spreading the play to Sadio Mane and made his way to the edge of the area, where he was in position to guide Andy Robertson’s cut-back into the corner with a classy, left-footed strike.
Next, there were shades of Old Trafford as he fed a throughball into the path of Salah, who dispatched a clinical curler into the top corner to make it 2-0 in the 19th minute.
Henderson was simply the derby’s defining midfield force and he was substituted to richly deserved, rapturous applause from the away end with 82 minutes played.
Historically prolific
The goals just keep on coming.
Liverpool are now the first English top-flight team in history to score twice or more in 18 consecutive matches in all competitions and the first to net two or more in 14-straight away games, too.
Three four-goal shows on the bounce has taken their Premier League tally for the season to 43 in 14 outings, while overall in 2021-22 their record stands at 63 scored in 21 fixtures.
And this was only the third time Liverpool have netted four times in a top-flight away match against Everton, after the famous 5-0 in 1982 and a 4-2 success 114 years ago.
Phenomenal.
Midfield mastery
Last season’s drawn Goodison derby represented the first time that Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho started together in Liverpool’s midfield.
Since then, the duo have started in midfield on 13 more occasions – and the Reds have won all of those games, with 10 of the victories being recorded with a clean sheet, too.
A Tweet by football writer Andrew Beasley laid bare the influence of Thiago and Fabinho, illustrating that Liverpool’s record when they play together in midfield stands at 13 wins, one draw, 39 goals scored, six conceded.
More Mo magic
“Hopefully for many more! My first target is to win something with the club; Champions League, Premier League, hopefully both. That’s the main target for everyone.”
Salah’s reply to a post-match question about his goalscoring targets for the campaign spoke of his focus on the collective, but the Egyptian’s spellbinding individual form shows no sign of abating.
His brace at Goodison took him to 19 for the season, in just 19 appearances, and he is the first Liverpool player to score or assist in seven consecutive Premier League away games.
And Salah leads the way in Europe’s top five leagues in terms of goal involvements in 2021-22, with his tally of 21 (13 goals and eight assists) two better than second-placed Karim Benzema.
