Everton player ratings: three stars receive 4/10 whilst plenty of 5/10s in Liverpool loss

Everton fell to a 2-0 loss in the Merseyside derby as goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo sealed three points for Liverpool at Anfield on Monday evening.

In what was a tight game between two sides in poor form, Jurgen Klopp’ side got the better of Sean Dyche’s visitors thanks to two swift counter-attacks.

Salah opened the scoring in the first half just 18 seconds after James Tarkowski’s header hit the post at the other end. The Reds launched a blistering counter-attack which was finished off by Salah - who was slightly indebted to Everton keeper Jordan Pickford’s substandard positioning.

Liverpool doubled their lead in similar circumstances on 49 minutes. They broke at pace against and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s drilled low cross was promptly tapped in at the back post from January signing Gakpo - who scored his first goal for the club.

Everton failed to muster anywhere near the sort of aggression they did in their 1-0 victory over Arsenal and the loss leaves them in the Premier League relegation zone.

Here’s how we rated the Everton players.

Starting XI

Jordan Pickford - 4/10

Adjudged to be the reason why Salah scored the opening goal, Pickford’s decision to try and win the ball from a Darwin Nunez cross saw him stuck in no man’s land, leaving for an easy tap-in for the Egyptian forward. What on earth was he thinking?

Twitter

Seamus Coleman - 4/10

The experienced Everton defender struggled overall and committed far too much on the press on both counter-attacks that led to the Liverpool goals. It was mentioned on commentary that he could (and maybe should) have opted for a tactical foul in either situation that could have killed any potential goal.

James Tarkowski - 6/10

Enjoyed another commanding performance with some strong blocks and moments and was also unlucky not to see his header nestle in the bottom corner in the first half. Liverpool scoring just seconds after that chance typified their evening.

Conor Coady - 4/10

A poor performance from Coady overall, who could have done better for the second goal as he allows Alexander-Arnold’s cross to pass him by, leaving Gakpo with an easy tap-in behind him. He was also dribbled past three times on the night and received a yellow after a late tackle.

Vitaliy Mykolenko - 5/10

The Ukrainian struggled to nullify Salah and offered next to nothing going forward.

Idrissa Gueye - 6/10

Attempted to press Liverpool’s midfield but Gueye was one of three in midfield who couldn’t affect Klopp’s side or force the game in any way. Defensively he enjoyed six tackles and four interceptions, as well as an 89% pass success rate and his teammates certainly struggled around him.

Amadou Onana - 5/10

Completely different fortunes for Onana this week after his man-of-the-match performance against Arsenal as he struggled to influence the game to anywhere near the type of level we saw last week. Disappointing performance considering Liverpool’s issues in the middle of the park recently.

Abdoulaye Doucoure - 4/10

Having produced a strong showing last week, Doucoure failed to get the better of Liverpool’s midfield and was carded late on for a late tackle. A poor display.

Alex Iwobi - 5/10

Created Everton’s best chance in the second half for Tom Davies, but the substitute could head wide after a searching and accurate ball found him unmarked at the back post. Outside of that, Iwobi struggled to get on the ball and create anything else of worth.

Dwight McNeil - 5/10

Unable to affect the game and was brought off late on.

Ellis Simms - 5/10

Enjoyed some good moments in the first half in what was his second Premier League start. Struggled up against Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, but didn’t receive any service from his fellow attackers and departed just after the hour mark.

Substitutes

Sub 1 - Demarai Gray - 5/10

Received very few touches after coming on and struggled to influence the game in any way.

Sub 2 - Neal Maupay - 5/10

Perhaps disappointed not to start, Maupay didn’t enjoy any service, similar to Simms, and was largely anonymous after coming on.

Sub 3 - Tom Davies - 4/10

Didn’t see much of the ball when coming on overall, but his first touch was actually a header he fired wide from Iwobi - a chance that simply had to hit the target.