In a surprisingly one-sided Merseyside Derby Liverpool came away from Anfield on top of a feeble Everton side in a four nil victory. Here are my ratings from both sides:
Liverpool:
Mignolet: 7
He would have expected to have more work, and was largely untested. Made a couple of decent stops and was more dominant in his box than previously, although his distribution wasn’t quite on point.
Cissokho: 6
Looked fine defensively when one on one with his man. However he was still poor on the ball and was caught out of position a number of times
Toure: 7
Looked shaky early on against Lukaku early on, however dealt with the threat of Naismith with ease. He also made a brilliant assist for Sturridge’s second goal.
Skrtel: 8
Skrtel was dominant from the get go, winning lots of headers and flying into tackles. He played with the determination and motivation of a real Scouser.
Flanagan: 8
Much improved on Kelly’s performance at the weekend, he had Pienaar in his back pocket all first half. He was very solid defensively, although to push on and secure a regular place he needs to add an attacking instinct to his game.
Henderson: 7
Solid display for Henderson, helping lots on the defensive side – Rarely got forward but was key alongside Gerrard in controlling the midfield.
Gerrard: 8 Looked like the Gerrard of old, he took the game to Everton and scored a great header. You could see his determination throughout the game and helped fire Liverpool to victory. Sterling 8:
He was brilliant in attack and also offered good cover in defence. He was key to the counter attacking plays, with his and Sturridge’s blistering pace ripping the Everton backline to parts.
Coutinho 8:
Finally put in a performance worthy of his undoubted talent. Helped out in defence but was best at picking out the final pass, including a perfectly timed through ball for Sturridge’s first goal.
Suarez: 8
Another dazzling performance from the Uruguayan, causing Alcaraz problems all game with his skill and dribbling – he also scored a great individual goal.
Sturridge: 9 (MOTM)
Stunning performance form Sturridge with two brilliant finishes. He has now scored 27 goals in 35 games for Liverpool and is surely up there with the best Strikers in the premier league (Even if he can’t take a pen).
Everton:
Howard: 5
Not at fault for any of the goals and made a coupe of good saves. However clumsily brought down Sterling for the penalty and often panicked when pressured by Liverpool’s frontline.
Baines: 6
Struggled to match Sterling for pace consistently and was kept quiet by the combination of Sterling and Flanagan in defence.
Jagielka: 5
The usually solid centre back was poor all game, couldn’t keep up with Liverpool’s pace on the counter attack.
Alcaraz: 6
He was slightly better than Jagielka but only because he was ok on the ball. He was equally hapless in defending against Liverpool’s devastating attack.
Stones: 6
Has relatively little to do as Liverpool didn’t play an out and out right winger however he often lost Sturridge when he did drift out wide.
McCarthy: 7
Battled well in midfield and kept possession well – but was often forced backwards by Liverpool’s high pressing.
Barry: 6
Some nice passes but was overrun in midfield, all game he committed numerous fouls and deserved to be carded.
Barkley: 7
Was a bright spark for Everton with some surging runs from midfield, although went missing for large periods of the game.
Pienaar: 4
Was poor throughout, marked out of the game by Flanagan and was taken off at half time to increase Everton’s threat.
Mirallas: 7
Mirallas was by far Everton’s best player with some great marauding runs into the Liverpool box. He looked like Everton’s only dangerous player throughout.
Naismith: 6
Pretty anonymous from where he came on for Lukaku, rarely threatened during the game, although he was largely lacking in support and service from the midfield.
Source: DSG
