Premier League GW9 - Liverpool vs Everton

Liverpool vs Everton | Photo Credits: Sports Illustrated

Liverpool Seeks the Summit

Liverpool had a great chance to win this much awaited match and take over first place in the Premier League standings. After a contentious 2-1 loss to Tottenham broke their seven-match winning streak, Jurgen Klopp's team was ready to resume their winning ways. In their most recent league game, Brighton had held them to a 2-2 draw. But they had only lost one of their previous 25 league encounters with Everton, so the odds were on their favour.

Everton's Recent Uptick

Conversely, Everton was enjoying success. They had won three of their last four games in all competitions after a slow start to the season. Their first victory of the year had come away at Brentford, and just before the international break, they easily defeated Bournemouth 3-0.

Starting Lineups:

Liverpool (4-3-3):

• Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Kostas Tsimikas; Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch; Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz.
  

Substitutes:

• James McConnel, Callum Scanlon, Wataru Endo, Joe Gomez, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah, Joel Matip, Harvey Elliott, Darwin Nunez.
  

Everton (4-4-1-1):

• Jordan Pickford; Ashley Young, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko; Jack Harrison, James Garner, Amadou Onana, Dwight McNeil; Abdoulaye Doucoure; Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
  

Substitutes:

• Michael Keane, Youssef Chermiti, Ben Godfrey, Arnaut Danjuma, Joao Virginia, Nathan Patterson, Lewis Dobbin, Idrissa Gueye, Beto.
  

First Half: Goalless at the Break

Doucoure started the game off to start things off for Everton. Despite Liverpool's early dominance, Alisson turned aside Calvert-Lewin's header in the first minute as Everton came dangerously close to taking the lead. Despite Everton being down to 10 men after Young's dismissal in the 37th minute, the score was tied at halftime.

Second Half: Liverpool's Persistence Pays Off

In the second half, Liverpool picked up the action and sought the breakthrough. Their perseverance paid off in the 75th minute, when Salah confidently scored a VAR-awarded penalty for a handball by Keane. Salah added a second goal in the 97th minute to put the game beyond doubt for Liverpool and secure the victory.

Full-Time: Liverpool Claims Victory

Everton was down to ten men, but Liverpool won 2-0. With Calvert-Lewin's early opportunity, Young's dismissal, and the critical penalty given to Liverpool, the game featured its fair share of drama. Liverpool clinched the top spot in the league standings with this victory.

The focus now switches to Liverpool's Europa League match against Toulouse on Thursday. Everton, however, is still in 16th place and will try to improve in their upcoming game against West Ham.