Everton and Liverpool share points in 292nd Merseyside Derby

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford starred in his club’s 0-0 draw against bitter rivals Liverpool on Saturday.  The England number one made seven saves in the match, including some stunning saves to keep his clean sheet. 

Despite the scoreline, the 292nd version of the Merseyside Derby was certainly entertaining.  Not only was Pickford brilliant, but both teams hit woodwork inside the first half of the match.  South American duo Darwin Nunez and Luis Dias hit the bar for Liverpool, while Tom Davies saw his shot come off of the post for the hosts.

Fans inside Goodison Park thought their team had scored a vital goal in the second half of the match.  Newcomer Conor Coady put the ball in the back of the net in the 69th minute; however, the defender was ruled to be offside following a lengthy VAR review.

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk was a bit lucky to finish the match on the pitch.  His challenge on Everton midfielder Amadou Onana in the second half was judged to just be a yellow card offense.  Despite the fact that replays showed the tackle to be very dangerous, officials decided not to take a further look at the incident.

THE SAVE. 👀#EVELIV pic.twitter.com/WxYoWAdUtc

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) September 3, 2022

The draw means that Everton have yet to record a victory in six Premier League games so far this season.  The Blues have recorded four draws and two losses for manager Frank Lampard. On the Liverpool side, the Reds have also not played at their best in the early days of the campaign.

Liverpool have just two victories in their opening six matches of the season and have not been very consistent.  In fact, Jurgen Klopp’s club has failed to score in the first half in five of their first six games so far this season.  Outside of their 9-0 thumping of Bournemouth last weekend, the Red have looked a bit pedestrian.

Everton will look to find their first victory of the campaign away to Arsenal next week.  Liverpool, on the other hand, have a midweek Champions League clash against Napoli on Wednesday.

Photo credit: Andrew Yates / Sportimage