Three Points, No Illusions

Everton 1-2 Liverpool | Merseyside Derby, Premier League

This was the derby many expected. Messy, physical, scrappy. Everton brought the fight, Liverpool brought just enough. Not control, not fluency, just enough.

It was a hard watch again. Liverpool still look like a side trapped in their own idea of control. Play our way or not at all. Too rigid. Too slow to adapt. But this game demanded grit, not patterns, and for once, they found it.

Credit where it’s due. They stood up to it. They didn’t fold. They stayed in the fight and took their moment late on. That has been missing too often this season.

Mohamed Salah delivered again. Of course he did. Virgil van Dijk with the decisive blow. The travelling support gave Salah and Robertson their due, a proper send-off for two legends in what was their final derby. That part felt right.

Beyond that, questions remain. Big ones. Liverpool couldn’t even fill the bench. No youth options, no depth, no clarity. A squad stretched and a plan that still looks confused at best.

The table says progress. Seven points clear of the chasing pack. Champions League now within reach. That’s really all that matters now.

But let’s not dress this up. Fifth place is not success, not for this club. This hasn’t been a season of standards. The talk of transition doesn’t hold water when the basics have fallen short, no matter how much Arne Slot, along with some pundits and journalists, tries to peddle it.

Take the win. Take the gap. Move on to Palace next week.

Finish the job. Get into the top five. Then tear this season apart in the inevitable review and make sure nothing like this darkens our eyes again.