Slot is brewing the new Gerrard & Torres in £130m-rated Liverpool duo

A 2-0 lead is the worst lead. So goes the footballing cliché. But it surely’s a saying aptly utilized to Arne Slot’s Liverpool as they proceed to face adversity when two targets to the great this season.

Thrice had Liverpool ceded their lead when two targets up earlier than assembly Everton within the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

After a barnstorming begin to the all-Liverpool conflict, the Reds wanting again to their ferocious finest, previous habits crept in, with Idrissa Gueye pulling one again after the interval and casting an anxious blanket throughout most of Anfield.

Nonetheless, this time Slot’s males did not have to dig deep and discover a last-gasp winner, as an alternative coming collectively to repel the spectacular Toffees and see the sport off.

5 wins from 5 within the Premier League. The hosts might need made a slight meal of issues within the second half, however they bought the job finished as soon as once more, with a collection of gamers stepping up.

Liverpool’s finest performers vs Everton

Virgil van Dijk is imperious as Liverpool’s chief and centre-back supreme, however Ibrahima Konate carried out very effectively certainly towards Everton, placing that shaky begin to the season firmly behind him.

Towards Everton, the France worldwide gained seven of eight aerial duels that got here his means (information courtesy of Sofascore), whereas making eight clearances and two tackles, displaying off that bodily robustness when powering ahead to stamp out hazard or cowl a wandering midfielder.

Within the first half, Liverpool gained 55% of the duels, however after the break, it was Everton who confirmed extra impetus within the problem, flipping that to a 56% success charge towards the Anfield aspect.

That does not inform the total story, although, and Dominik Szoboszlai is a testomony to that, having solely gained half of his eight duels however thrived in an all-action midfield position, main the press and displaying off his first-rate stamina because the match wound down, instrumental to snuffing out a late comeback.

File signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak each entered the fray both aspect of the hour mark, however neither may write their names into the headlines because the guests utilized strain and pushed for an equaliser.

That pairing have the talents and kinds to emerge as Liverpool’s new model of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, however it’s two higher-flying members of Slot’s squad who’re rising as such stars of previous.

Liverpool’s new model of Gerrard & Torres

Torres and Gerrard shaped one of the crucial iconic partnerships in Premier League historical past, turning apart opponents from each which means. Liverpool’s legendary skipper as soon as stated El Niño was “the perfect striker on the earth”, earlier than he up and left for Chelsea.

Hugo Ekitike has some stiff competitors in Isak at quantity 9 at Liverpool, however he is enjoying like a person who is aware of it proper now, having scored his fourth objective of the season after calmly gathering from a scrumptious Ryan Gravenberch move and sending the ball previous Jordan Pickford.

Liverpool’s £69m striker constructed on Gravenberch’s earlier objective, an unbelievable end, dinked up and over Pickford and down and into the online after Mohamed Salah lobbed into house.

The duo have been unbelievable this season; they’re proving invaluable proponents of Slot’s ways, so coolly hitting the best heights underneath the top coach’s steerage.

Final season, Gravenberch introduced himself as a significant contender for a prime aspect, however he now seems to have taken his sport to the following degree.

Peter Crouch remarked after the match for TNT Sports activities that he believes Gravenberch “has been Liverpool’s finest participant this season”, and it will be arduous to contest that, so influential has he been throughout each nook of the midfield.

Now that he is kindling a devastating attacking aspect to his sport, the Dutchman is actually shaping into a brand new, fashionable model of Gerrard, who was the king of full performances when in his heyday.

Furthermore, Gerrard was a relentless thorn in Everton’s aspect, with no man having scored extra within the Merseyside derby than him.

Torres was hardly a pushover on derby day, both, scoring thrice towards the Blues over 5 appearances as a Liverpool participant; all three strikes got here throughout his first two contests.

Ekitike seems up for the duty of emulating the one-time hero, and he may even be enjoying with an air of the Spaniard’s aptitude too, with former Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster saying throughout the sport that the 23-year-old “appears to be like like prime Fernando Torres operating round Anfield”.

There was one thing Torres-esque about the best way Ekitike labored additional time, simply accurately in a gathering of intense rivalry. The Frenchman accomplished all 4 of his dribbles, gained seven duels and made two tackles for Slot’s aspect.

Isak, to make sure, has his work reduce out this season and past. However Liverpool need to defend their Premier League title whereas difficult for silverware throughout all the opposite fronts too this time period, and the duality of elite choices at centre-forward will go a great distance towards attaining that.

Boasting a mixed Transfermarkt valuation of £130m and showcasing a budding partnership when Grav threaded by way of for his new frontman, there’s loads of motive to be excited on the Crimson half of Merseyside, with such gamers already shaping this new cost towards the title.

Gravenberch, too, shares the midfield with a bunch of world-class gamers, however it’s arduous to argue towards the Netherlands worldwide being the primary title on the team-sheet proper now, immovable and good in the course of the park.