Liverpool fans were left sickened by the 2-2 draw away to Everton, but that’s not to say that there isn’t still a sense of positivity after pulling seven points clear.
The Reds couldn’t quite hold on in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, following a brutal late equaliser by James Tarkowski.
Liverpool’s point still took them seven ahead of Arsenal, however, putting them in a wonderful position heading into the business end of the season.
Here, Henry Jackson (@HenryJackson87) is joined by Abigail Rudkin (@rudkin_abigail) to discuss a painful derby outcome, but also a positive outlook on the Premier League title race.
The good…
HENRY: It’s hard to feel positive after such a brutal punch to the gut!
That said, Liverpool are literally seven points clear at the top of the Premier League – imagine being told that back in August.
Then there’s Salah, who is the best player in the world, once again delivering two moments of pure quality.
Where would we be without him?
Aside from Mo, I thought Mac was good in midfield, Dom worked his socks off and the response to going behind was impressive.
And well done to Curtis for sticking up for the fans. Loved that!
The bad…
ABI: Obviously, it’s a really difficult one to take. Like Virgil himself said, this is their cup final.
The real head loss was the Everton fans running on the pitch to celebrate a draw!
Michael Oliver was abysmal. That’s one of the worst officiating performances I’ve seen for a long while, and he’s meant to be one of the good ones!
Their free-kick that led to their goal was never a foul, and Salah was thrown around the whole game and nothing was ever given.
The ref was poor for both sides as well, not just Liverpool. He completely lost the game, and by the end of it, I think he had his own head loss.
Giving Slot a red because of something said during a handshake at full-time is embarrassing.
HENRY: That Tarkowski goal is going to sit in my mind for a while, which isn’t ideal!
To concede so late in the day is hard to stomach, but in truth, I don’t think Liverpool did enough to deserve the win.
We created very little, and in those last few minutes I thought there was an element of panic in the air.
Then there was Oliver, who I agree with Abi about. He was a disgrace, quite frankly.
I hate football at times.
Where does this leave Liverpool ahead of the weekend?
ABI: Now we stand seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with four big games coming up in the space of 11 days.
Arsenal have plenty of injuries, whereas we have a pretty much fully fit squad apart from Joe.
Curtis being suspended now after his red after full-time may pose an issue in terms of depth for the next game, but I’ll let him off.
I don’t condone violence, but as Henry says, I was more than happy to see Curtis defend our fans from Doucoure’s attempts at riling up our away end.
A true Scouser.
HENRY: While this one has stung, I’ve also been feeling positive.
Liverpool are in an incredible position and the only team with a chance of catching us are injury-prone and inconsistent.
I can’t shake the feeling that we aren’t quite pulling clear of Arsenal, though, which is bothering me.
But as I said above, we’d have all been so excited if we were told that the league table would look like this last August.
Beat Wolves, then get a minimum of four points from Villa and City away, and we’re looking great!
Onwards and upwards, Reds – use this as motivation to get over the line.
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