Liverpool secured a dramatic late win over Everton, with Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.2m) on the scoresheet.
Arne Slot’s men are now seven points ahead of Chelsea, Brentford and Bournemouth in the race for fifth, and a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Here are our Scout Notes from the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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SLOT ON MAMARDASHVILI + £3.9M WOODMAN
There was more injury concern for Liverpool on Sunday, when Giorgi Mamardashvili (£4.1m) had to be substituted in the second half and was subsequently taken to hospital.
With No 1 Alisson Becker (£5.4m) already out with a hamstring issue, Slot had to turn to third-choice ‘keeper Freddie Woodman (£3.9m), who came on for his Premier League debut.
“He has gone off to hospital. It looked to me, and that’s also what they told me, that he had a big wound – an open wound. That’s of course not going to be a long-term injury. Let’s see if he is available for next week.” – Arne Slot on Giorgi Mamardashvili
Woodman came through it pretty well, earning praise from his manager in the process, and could start to pick up a bit of Free Hit interest if Mamardashvili is ruled out.
“Freddie deserves a lot of credit — coming in just after conceding at 1-1 and their fans were ready for it but he did his job really well. He kept calm in a difficult moment when he was doubting whether to catch the ball, yes or no, but kept his nerve. He’s worked so hard to have this moment.
“Usually, third goalkeepers don’t play a lot, but in a season like ours, I think if you are playing in the under-eights at Liverpool, you should be ready for making your debut because it is unbelievable what is happening to us.” – Arne Slot on Freddie Woodman
SALAH ON TARGET
In his final Merseyside derby, Salah returned from his midweek benching to score the opener.
After a superb through ball from Cody Gakpo (£7.3m), the Egyptian made no mistake with his finish, coolly passing it into the back of the net.
“I just want to keep scoring and help the team to the Champions League. Hopefully I can say farewell in the right way.” – Mohamed Salah
A timely reminder, not that it was really needed, of his qualities ahead of Blank Gameweek 34, when Liverpool host Crystal Palace at Anfield, particularly as he finished this match playing through the middle.
That said, Liverpool don’t have a very good record against Palace since Oliver Glasner’s appointment:
Image from 11v11
As for Gakpo, he racked up five shots and four chances created, both of which were match-highs.
van Dijk later popped up with the winner, nodding home Dominik Szoboszlai’s (£7.1m) whipped delivery.
ISAK QUIET
While Salah, Gakpo, Szoboszlai and van Dijk all banked attacking returns, Alexander Isak (£10.3m) was much quieter.
On the periphery throughout, the Sweden international recorded only nine touches and one shot, with Rio Ngumoha (£4.3m) coming on to replace him in the second half.
He is, at least, starting to play more, having clocked another 71 minutes on Sunday.
“During the week he was able to play 55-60 minutes. The good thing was if you let him start he has 15 minutes to rest at half-time and go again. For me it makes complete sense if you have a number nine that is able to play 60-75 minutes depending on the intensity of the game to play him – and that’s what we do.” – Arne Slot on Alexander Isak
Elsewhere, Slot used Curtis Jones (£5.4m) at right-back, with Szoboszlai in a deeper central midfield role.
Jones did really well in an unfamiliar position, racking up 28 (!) defensive contributions (DefCon).
“We started and finished the game without a right full-back. Curtis Jones did really well there. We had our third-choice goalkeeper out there and our No 9 [Salah], who is usually known as a right-winger. To show what they then showed is a big compliment to the mentality of this team.” – Arne Slot
BETO + BRANTHWAITE INJURIES
In-form forward Beto (£5.0m) continued up front for Everton, finishing smartly to equalise.
Having struggled for goals all season, he’s now been involved in five in his last three matches (four goals, one assist), amassing 31 points.
It could have been more, too, having spurned a massive opportunity when through on goal, before he was later forced off after a clash of heads.
Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.3m) was also taken off and was spotted leaving the stadium on crutches, with David Moyes expressing concern in his post-match presser.
“Jarrad was probably the best player on the pitch. I thought he played so well. I’m worried it could be serious, but we’ll have to wait and see.
“[There’s no update] but I’m worried, though. We’ve not had any results.” – David Moyes on Jarrad Branthwaite
A quick word on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m) and Iliman Ndiaye (£6.2m), too.
Dewsbury-Hall provided the assist for Beto’s equaliser, his 13th attacking return of the season, and was the most dangerous player on the pitch by some distance for Everton.
As for Ndiaye, he thought he had given his side the lead when he blasted high into the net, only for it to be chalked off for an offside in the build-up, but he did bank DefCon for the sixth time this term.
