Liverpool boss Arne Slot was left pleased with the Reds “hard fought” 1-0 Merseyside derby win over rivals Everton at Anfield.
Slot’s side moved back to 12 points clear of Arsenal thanks to a goal from Diogo Jota against Everton, with the Gunners having won a day prior against Fulham. With eight games left to go, Liverpool look a certainty to win the Premier League this season.
The game against the Toffees was not without its talking points. Jota bagged his first goal in more than two months, Everton defender James Tarkowski somehow escaped without receiving a red card for a horror tackle on Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones started at right-back.
Here is what Liverpool boss Slot had to say on those three topics and the win over Everton…
On beating Everton…
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Arne Slot: “Hard-fought, definitely, but that was no surprise. Everton were nine games in a row unbeaten, hardly ever concede a goal, hardly ever concede a chance, defend with 10 players apart from Beto in and around their 18-yard box.
“With players like [James] Tarkowski and [Jarrad] Branthwaite it is almost of no use to bring a cross in because they head every ball away. So, they are a team that is difficult to play against because they are also a threat on the counter-attack with Beto. Every throw-in they get and every free-kick they get against us, you have to defend that and that’s what makes it so difficult.
“What I liked much more today than I did at Goodison Park… at Goodison Park we had ball possession but we only had ball possession with our centre-backs and full-backs and today only the first half.
“I think if I say 10 or 15 times that Lucho Diaz was one-v-one against Jake O’Brien, I don’t even think I exaggerate, but to have that is one thing and to create a chance is another thing. That’s why we have to be there so many times, so many times, so many times and you’re hoping that one time can then be enough – and it was with Diogo’s goal.”
On Jota’s goal…
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Slot: Very pleased. He was close to it already in the first half; I think it was after seven or eight minutes. It was not a surprise they blocked that shot because they are defensively an incredibly strong team.
“For him to come up in the second half, he had two of these moments as well and the other moment was blocked. But [for the goal] he found just a bit of space and he scored the goal, which was nice for him but nice for us – and by us, I mean his teammates, the staff and the fans.
On Tarkowski’s horror tackle…
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Slot: “Let me first say that I don’t want to comment about the situation because so many people already commented on that, even people that are not liking Liverpool a lot, and they were all so clear and obvious what the decision should have been. There’s no need for me to comment on that. Was I surprised? No.”
On Curtis Jones playing right-back against Everton…
Slot: “It’s not something that came up last week.
“It’s something that I’ve thought about and we’ve thought about for a bit longer. [In the] first half of the season there were already moments where I talked about this with him that I think he is able to do this in games or in moments of games.
“But three full-backs were injured: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez. Then it’s a choice of playing a centre-back over there.
“Jarell [Quansah] did quite OK in that position, to be fair, and he would have helped us with set-pieces. But I felt – we felt – that we had to play better with the ball than we did in the away game. It’s a risk to play a midfielder over there maybe.
“But I knew that he could help with his creativity in this position because that’s what you lack of course when Trent is not playing for you. He did very well defensively also so [it was] a strong performance from him, like from the whole team, and it’s nice to have an extra option in that position because three of them are injured.”
