LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - APRIL 02: Arne Slot, Manger of Liverpool, celebrates victory after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Everton FC at Anfield on April 02, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arne Slot salutes the Liverpool supporters after the Merseyside derby win over Everton at Anfield (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Liverpool restored their advantage at the top of the Premier League to 12 points courtesy of a 1-0 win over Everton in the 246th Merseyside derby. Diogo Jota's goal, shortly before the hour mark, was enough for the Reds, who moved further clear of Arsenal in second.
The ECHO, of course, was at Anfield to provide our usual match-day mix of player ratings, analysis and verdict. The reactions of Arne Slot and David Moyes were also documented in our comprehensive coverage.
Our colleagues from the national media were also on hand to give their own considered takes on the game. And here's what they made of it all as Slot's men took another big stride towards a second title in five years...
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The Times' Paul Joyce writes: "Arne Slot has enjoyed more emphatic victories since arriving at Liverpool, but surely not one as cathartic as this. What better way to exorcise memories of losses to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United than by beating Everton and moving 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League again.
"Liverpool’s season has regained its momentum. That success in the Merseyside derby was far from pretty will not matter a jot to Slot, whose celebrations when Diogo Jota found a way through a massed defence shortly before the hour mark were laced with relief.
"His first season in England edges ever closer to what would be an extraordinary title success with a maximum of 13 points now needed to seal the deal. “We’re gonna with the league” would once again be the closing soundtrack.
"Liverpool’s task might have been made easier had James Tarkowski been sent off in the opening skirmishes for what was essentially an assault on Alexis Mac Allister, but this was a win that owed much to patience, perseverance and character."
Over on The Guardian's pages, Andy Hunter pens: "There were fist-pumps from Arne Slot as he headed down the Anfield tunnel and roars from the Kop in answer to Andy Robertson’s beseeching. The 246th Merseyside derby proved not merely another step towards the Premier League title for Liverpool but a cathartic release, and the reactions showed it.
"The league leaders cleansed themselves of recent torment against Everton and two deflating cup defeats in quick succession to secure a deserved derby win courtesy of Diogo Jota’s fine individual goal.
"David Moyes felt the strike that ended Everton’s nine-match unbeaten run should have been disallowed with Luis Diaz offside in the build-up. He also conceded that James Tarkowski, Everton’s late hero when the local rivals met 49 days ago, was lucky not to see red with only 11 minutes on the clock. The customary Merseyside derby controversy.
"Of more importance to Liverpool on this emotional occasion were the cold, hard facts of victory. It leaves Slot’s team needing a maximum of 13 points from the remaining eight games to have the Premier League trophy on display at Anfield once again, and to seal a record-equalling 20th league championship.
"Their performance against an obstinate and dangerous Everton side was hardly enthralling but underpinned by an impressive determination to recover from a painful Champions League exit and deserved Carabao Cup final defeat before the international break."
Andy Dunn, on the Daily Mirror's pages, writes: "In Grand National week on Merseyside, Diogo Jota made sure there will be no Devon Loch-style collapse in the title race. After their disappointments in the Champions League and Carabao Cup final, there were very faint suggestions that Arne Slot’s side might falter dramatically in the Premier League run-in, but crossing the winning line is now a formality.
"Just as it is a formality that this Everton manager does not win at Anfield, Jota’s moment of brilliance in a mediocre game making it 22 matches without a victory at the home of the champions-elect for David Moyes. Liverpool were far from their best but it is now just a question of keeping their concentration and getting the job done as efficiently as possible so that they can start the party.
"And on this night, not only were they celebrating another derby win at Anfield, they were celebrating the fact that one of their players escaped serious injury. Strangely enough, the first 10 minutes or so had, by derby standards, been distinctly amicable but then a ricochet found its way into a small patch of land midway between James Tarkowski and Alexis Mac Allister.
"Old-fashioned types would refer to it as a hospital ball and let’s just say Tarkowski is, er, an old-fashioned type. And let’s just be thankful Mac Allister did not end up in hospital after Tarkowski cleaned out the ball then the man with a thunderously violent tackle."
Rich Jolly, of The Independent, also reserves some words for Tarkowski's challenge on Mac Allister, penning: "A wild, out-of-control challenge on Alexis Mac Allister meant he clattered first ball and then man, his studs flying into the World Cup winner’s calf. Thankfully, eventually, Mac Allister was able to continue.
"For the 63rd time, Tarkowski was booked in the Premier League. But, despite a VAR check, he has still never been dismissed. It left Slot shaking his head, his reaction more measured than when Tarkowski levelled in the 98th minute two months ago. He was restrained in his comments, too. "Even people who are not liking Liverpool a lot are saying how clear and obvious it was," he said.
"That may have been a reference to the watching Duncan Ferguson, a sufficiently fearsome figure that he was sent to prison for an act of violence on the football pitch. An Everton cult hero pronounced it a possible leg-breaker and declared it merited a red card. The officials decided otherwise, an odder still decision from the VAR Paul Tierney; Jurgen Klopp’s least favourite official may assume a similar status with Slot."
The ECHO's verdict reads: "Of all the flags and the banners which regularly decorate Anfield on these sorts of evenings, there was a brand new one, sprawled across the Kop before kick-off, that served as a direct message to the Everton supporters down the other end of the ground: “We made this city”.
"Accompanied by the silhouettes of a number of trophies - that included the old First Division, the Champions League and, yes, the Premier League - the words served as a nod to Liverpool’s lengthy and varied honours list.
"And after securing a 1-0 win in the 246th Merseyside derby here, the Reds are now closing in on another piece of silver to toast to; one that might just be cherished like no other given what will be a 35-year wait to mark it in a style that is truly fitting of the achievement."