Two avoidable moments that cost Everton in derby clash with Liverpool

Following Everton’s brilliant win over Arsenal last week, fans have every right to feel underwhelmed by their team’s effort in the two-goal loss to Liverpool in the Merseyside derby last night. What’s worse is that Everton failed to muster a performance that ever looked capable of getting the win at Anfield.

Fans will also feel aggrieved at the nature of the two goals conceded, with both goals looking like they could have been easily avoided on the counter-attack, but which two moments could have prevented Everton from losing?

Looking at the first goal, the first moment that Everton could have acted upon is the initial early phase after the ball was cleared following Tarkowski’s header. Seamus Coleman presses high on the edge of the Liverpool box onto Darwin Nunez, but gets caught in no man’s land as the Uruguayan plays a one-two with Salah before surging forward to provide the assist.

Frustratingly, the first goal came just seconds after James Tarkowski had hit the post from a corner which was then directly followed by a blunder from Jordan Pickford at the other end just 16 seconds later.

The England number one’s strange decision to come and try and collect Nunez’s cross allowed Salah a far easier finish, leaving the Egyptian with the task of feeding the ball into an empty; Pickford’s poor decision-making was heavily criticised by fans and pundits as a result.

Coleman had a chance to perform a tactical foul in this moment - it would have meant a certain yellow card, but ensuring they didn’t score would have frustrated Liverpool and not allowed them to produce an early lead.

Idrissa Gueye was the one tasked with chasing after Nunez, but his pace and power made it impossible for the midfielder to get anywhere near him after he had avoided Coleman.

For the second goal it’s a similar situation as it’s another one-two, this time with Andy Robertson.

The left-back has a brief moment with Coleman before breaking past him to spead the ball to Salah, who then plays in Trent Alexander-Arnold so he can cross for a tap-in for Gakpo at the back post. Coleman has a perfect opportunity to stop Robertson in his tracks, but refuses to make the hard choice once again and three passes later, Liverpool are two goals up.

It was an example of how Everton were off-the-pace on the night, but those two counter-attacks could have been prevented by the use of a tactical foul on two occasions - it’s a type of foul that comes with experience, so we’re not sure why the 34-year-old Irish defender didn’t opt to take one for the team.

As explained by Dyche in his post-match interview, the game was decided by key moments: “The details are forever important in football,” he concluded on Tuesday. “We got them right last weekend, we didn’t get them right tonight. It was obvious. Too many details went against us in both boxes. The next layer is working with the players and defining the things we’ve got to do better. We’ve got to fast-track everything we’re trying to achieve into the players.”

Given the relegation battle they find themselves in, every point is crucial and a yellow card for making either of the fouls would have been a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.