Jordan Pickford’s positioning was highly questionable as Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool ahead in the Merseyside derby following a slick counter attack.
Everton were taught a harsh lesson on taking their chances at Anfield as James Tarkowski’s header from a corner crashing against the post somehow resulted in Liverpool bursting down the other end and firing themselves ahead on the counter attack. But while credit can be given to Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, questions must be asked of Toffees goalkeeper Pickford, whose incredibly questionable positioning gave the Reds an open goal to aim at, and Salah made no mistake as he fired into the partially empty net.
Blame cannot solely be put on the England stopper, with Nunez and Salah doing brilliantly to propel Liverpool down the other end to capitalise on the situation. However, Pickford’s position was extremely poor, as he appeared to try to anticipate Salah passing the ball along the box, but leaving his goal completely open in doing so for the 30-year-old to slot in his first goal of 2023.
Going behind just before half-time gives Everton a mountain to climb in the Merseyside derby. Still full of confidence after managing a shock win against Arsenal in their last outing, they’ll need a huge response in the second half to take anything out of the game.
(Goal)
