Good prediciton for me.

Not bad Lenny

I loved the fact we stood the whole game. It generates so much more atmosphere. It was a bit weird though the way it never got going in the second half. I suppose we were somewhat spoilt in the first half and the second half the nerves set in a bit.

1-0 up, Everton hadn't had a sniff. It had 1-1 written all over it.

Yeah. Them flag days was amazing! I missed the last one against Norwich though



And on a side note.....

What an anti climax that game was.

All the credit goes to Liverpool who controlled virtually every second of this match. Sometimes I think Liverpool are at their best when they haven't got the ball i.e. they are brilliant at shutting down space. It didn't matter at all that Mascherano was missing, because Alonso, Gerrard and Lucas (who wasn't very good) all closed down the likes of Osman and Arteta before they could do any damage. Despite the mistake from Yakubu, it was still an impressive finish from Torres.

I know that Everton have some injuries and that their squad is about as thin as Rafa's hair, but I was still disappointed with their approach in this match. I just feel that Moyes should have seen that the game was going to peter out and therefore taken more risks. Throw more bodies up there. Sacrifice a defender for a striker and lump it top. Anything...just do something. Ultimately though, Everton offered very little to trouble Liverpool's back four, of whom Martin Skrtel was outstanding. He reminds me of Nemanja Vidic in his aggressive style of play. Looks a sound buy.

Liverpool will finish fourth now I'm certain of that, even if they lose to Arsenal and Everton deal with Derby.

Brilliant.

I agree Torres looks like he might like a bit of man love.

A guy can dream....

I could have sworn i saw a "tackle" identical to Diaby's in this game,that got a yellow!
Consistency would be nice.

Summed up, in a nutshell.

With the most at stakes football-wise for years it was billed in everyone's mind as one of the biggest Merseyside derby matches for some time, which failed to materialise. The game was quite tame and we strolled to victory in the end.

The first-half we pretty much owned from the first to last minute, by taking the game to Everton, who were quite negative in a match they really needed to win. The goal (our 100th of the football season) in the end was soft, but deserved - and at least one of Kuyt or Babel should have extended our lead to kill the game.

The second-half reminded me very much of the second-half in our Manchester United match at Anfield, where we had all the possession but couldn't create anything and ultimately they were comfortable. That was the same here and Everton didn't even force Reina into making a save... For all their dominance on the ball our defence stood strong and we actually had the better chances of the 45 minutes.

It was easy, too easy, and perhaps that's an indication of Everton's thin squad. They started the match, one as i've said they really needed to win, with only one striker in the 16-man team via starter Yakubu. That tied Moyes' hands from the beginning. I know Johnson was injured, but surely Anichebe or Vaughan could've manned the substitutes bench?

Regarding Babel, he's a rough talent. Unlike Forev (who's player standards may admittedly vary, given the fact his team has been the strongest in England over the last decade) i think Babel has shown a spark that indicates he can be a superb player in the future - he has so much energy and pace, terrific dribbling skills as well as a truly lethal shot (which can come out of nowhere). The guy needs to improve more basic attributes to his game though, such as using his left foot and crossing the ball, if he's to be a top class winger. If not he may be forced to play as a striker. I've not labelled the man a hit or a flop yet, obviously, but i'm convinced he has the potential to be a success at Liverpool - only time will tell on that and i'm reserving judgement 'till the end of next season, when he should have progressed a long way from what we've seen earlier in this season.

As for Skrtel, i don't know why it's taken 'till now for him to get such recognition. The Slovak has been very good in most of his performances for us, bar the Havant & Waterlooville one, and two superb ones that stand out being the Chelsea and Reading games. I guess this being the derby gets more attention though. He's practically displaced Carragher at the centre after little over a month from signing, which says quite a lot... Him and Agger could conceivably be our starting pair next year, which i can't wait to see. He has a gay song mind.

I would've taken defeat at Old Trafford for a victory here, so all in all i'm not too disheartened anymore.

well i think the 4th spot can only be thrown away by Liverpool , they would have to lose twice to allow Everton the chance to overtake them ...i dont see Everton doing that if they even got the chance , have faltered badly in the last three matches ....lost , drawn , lost .

But ....footballs a funny old game ..

I highlighted this period of Manchester United, Everton and Arsenal for ourselves, with Everton's of Aston Villa, Chelsea and Arsenal near the end of the season as key. I figured they would define the team who finished fourth.

As it was, i said Everton had to be ahead of us by the end of our tough patch, which isn't possible now and i stand by that in saying i can't see a way they'll overhaul us. We probably won't get anything against Arsenal but 2 points at this stage is still huge, given the respective games we'll have to play.

Our goal difference is +11 better than Everton (as well as head to head if it does come down to that) so yes, only Liverpool can lose it

we can effectively drop points in two games (not saying we are aiming for that) but we can draw one and lose one and Everton must probably win their remaining 6 games and get a massive goal difference boost. with our last 9 matches it is hard to see us dropping many points if any

Thought exactly that myself. Also Everton did more than their fair share of moaning to the ref....

One rule for one....

Same here, Carragher took Nevilles ankle then the ball and it wasn't even a free-kick... thankfully.

Ooooo mischevious. You know full well what we are on about.

I thought you were on about that Carragher challenge

Was it the Carsley one you're talking about?

Just got back from my Holiday's, missed both United, and Everton games live, but i recorded them both,
great first half should of gone in at half time 5-0 up, but i was surprised Everton put up more of a fight than i thought they would.

But the quality between the two teams showed in the end.

on a side note, I do love Torres

I think Liverpool fans now love Torres more than we love Berbatov.