Liverpool secured the win to relieved cheers at the end, beating Everton 1-0 at Anfield, but it should have been easier had the referees done their job.
Liverpool 1-0 Everton
Premier League (20) | AnfieldApril 2, 2025
Goals: Jota 57′
1. A 20th title is increasingly real
The roar as the final whistle went reflected how close Liverpool are to glory.
After what was at times an unconvincing and nervy game, the celebrations and feel-good factor eventually came after the win was confirmed.
At this stage, those jubilant feelings might occur in the moments between football matches if the matches themselves are tense affairs.
Liverpool now need a maximum of four wins and a draw to be crowned Premier League champions. This is presuming Arsenal win all of their remaining games.
This derby was always going to be one of the trickier of the remaining obstacles, especially given Everton’s improvement under David Moyes. Their form since he arrived is among the best in the league.
While Liverpool made hard work of the three points, it was three points nevertheless, and at this stage of the season, it doesn’t really matter how they come, though it is always good for a league title to be won in style.
Some style would be a reminder of how Liverpool got in this position in the first place – by being one of the best teams in England and Europe.
A 20th title is edging ever closer and becoming increasingly real.
2. What’s needed for VAR to show red?
Everton somehow kept 11 men on the pitch after a dangerous challenge on Alexis Mac Allister from James Tarkowski.
The Everton defender’s follow-through is one of those a player can make appear natural, but the kind of force used and the high studs could have been avoided.
As Mac Alister’s boot hit the turf with Tarkowski still following through, you feared the worst for the Argentine midfielder, but he somehow escaped without a serious injury.
He was lucky it was the top of his boot scraping the turf rather than his studs lodging in it.
Maybe it would have taken a serious injury for VAR to do its job and give a red card, as if that is not a red card on review, nothing is.
3. From control to chaos
By the time of the goal, Liverpool had had around 74 percent possession but had done little with it.
The build-up play was laborious. Multiple touches, running up blind alleys, making little inroads beyond the Everton defence.
The crowd were frustrated by the referee but also at times by the players. That all changed around the time of the goal, though.
Whether by design or by accident, the game became more broken up, and this created more space and more desperate defensive efforts from Everton.
It also gave the crowd more to get involved with, and the noise in the five minutes or so after the goal was as loud as it had been since the start of the game.
4. A No-Trent preview
The future of Trent Alexander-Arnold was the biggest talking point during the international break, with some more concrete rumours emerging linking him to a move to Real Madrid at the end of the season.
With all that going on, it was easy to forget that he’s currently out injured and wasn’t fit enough to start against Everton.
You immediately see what Liverpool would miss without him. No other player seems capable, or willing, to make long, accurate passes through the middle, and the absence of this affected Liverpool’s ability to get into dangerous attacking areas quickly.
The build-up play has looked laboured at times this season, but without Trent pinging the ball from one end to the other, onto a run of Mohamed Salah or Luis Diaz, there was a weapon missing.
Curtis Jones filled in at right-back and did a job there, but he lacked Conor Bradley’s dynamism or Trent’s passing range.
It gave a sneak preview of what a Liverpool team might look like without Trent and showed the need for multiple reinforcements in the summer should he leave as many now seem to expect he will.
5. League-only focus
The end of the season is in sight, but the title which has looked like Liverpool’s for some time still needs winning.
With only league games to focus on, and maybe a few contract situations, the targets should be clear.
Fulham away could be as awkward as Everton.
The West London side sit ahead of the more lauded Brentford and Bournemouth in the table, so Liverpool will have to put in a performance if they’re to pick up another win and edge closer to securing the title with games to spare.
A couple of potentially easier fixtures against West Ham and Leicester follow that, before games against the big London teams: Tottenham, Chelsea and, of course, Arsenal.
Plans are now being made as to when the title will be won, not if, but its a job that still needs doing.
For better or worse, it’s all Liverpool have to focus on – still a pretty good position to be in.
Liverpool 1-0 Everton
