Premier League

LIVERPOOL and Everton players had to be separated after a mass brawl in a fiery Merseyside derby.Toffees keeper Jordan Pickford sparked the incident after deliberately barging through Andy Robertson in the closing stages at Anfield.
Andy Robertson and Jordan Pickford clashed to spark a mass brawl in the Merseyside derbyCredit: Reuters
Conor Coady gets involved in the rowCredit: EPA

The hosts were leading 2-0 after goals from Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo, with a Pickford blunder making it easy for the Egyptian’s opener.
And Pickford was unhappy that Robertson continued to dribble with the ball after play was brought back in a bid to waste a few extra seconds on the clock.
The England keeper bumped into Robertson, causing a tense exchange between the two.
Conor Coady then backed up his international and club team-mate, even grabbing Robertson by the neck.
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It caused players from both teams to come together, including Liverpool sub Virgil van Dijk.
Everton’s Amadou Onana and Kostas Tsimikas were also seen in a huge row off the field.
Meanwhile Pickford continued to clash with Robertson with James Milner tasked with cooling them down.
Both players were booked for their roles in the fracas.
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Liverpool got the last laugh as they secured local bragging rights and all three points.
Salah told Sky Sports:  “It’s a huge win for us.
“We had a perfect week to train and the players were so excited and we couldn’t wait for the game to turn everything around and hopefully it was a start.”
Liverpool sub Virgil van Dijk was right in the thick of the actionCredit: Getty
Players from both sides clashCredit: Reuters
Andy Robertson and Jordan Pickford continue to clashCredit: Reuters
Jordan Pickford and Andy Robertson are bookedCredit: AFP More

JURGEN KLOPP gave his players two days off to clear their heads after the dismal defeat at Wolves.And the Liverpool manager was duly rewarded with a type of sparkling, high-energy performance which looked as though his team had been given a couple of months off.
Mo Salah fired Liverpool to their first league win of the year against EvertonCredit: PA
Cody Gakpo was also on target in the 2-0 derby win at AnfieldCredit: Getty
This was more like it from Klopp’s team. Here was the team, for periods of the game at least, which came within two games of winning all four trophies last season.
While it helped their Merseyside rivals delivered an unbelievably-lame performance in their match under Sean Dyche, Liverpool could not have hoped for an easier game to halt their embarrassing slide towards mid table.
Jordan Pickford proved his attention to detail by printing a graphic on his water bottle detailing Liverpool’s four likely penalty takers.
But instead, Pickfoford was guilty of some completely bizarre goalkeeping to hand Mo Salah his first goal of 2023.
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The England keeper’s movement was a bit like when you are playing table football and you send the goalkeeper in completely the wrong direction.
Yet there was also a first goal for Cody Gakpo, a player who has not exactly made a grand entrance since his £37million move from PSV Eindhoven.
Virtually everyone, other than Klopp, would have spent the money on central midfield as this is clearly an area which needs an overhaul..
But tonight, Fabinho overcame his shocking season with a decent performance, the recalled Jordan Henderson gave some calm in the central area and 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic once again proved what a terrific player he is certain to be and was the best player on the pitch.
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The result keeps Everton in the relegation zoneCredit: AFP
It was Liverpool’s first league win in five matchesCredit: Getty
There was also a 20-minute run-out for fit-again Diogo Jota who had not featured since mid-October.
Bobby Firmino, the team’s top scorer but injured since mid-November, was also handed a 10-minute cameo. Virgil Van Dijk, injured since January 2, was also on the bench.
So this potentially disastrous night against the team from the other side of Stanley Park was just one happy news story for everyone at Anfield.
Maybe Klopp’s team can now get some much-needed momentum after a run of four Premier League matches without a win.
Equally, Everton boss Dyche will have been massively disappointed by his team who were surprisingly open at the back and both goals were down to some really weak, kamikaze defending.

Salah fired Liverpool ahead 10 minutes before the breakCredit: PA
Salah netted following a devastating counter attackCredit: Reuters
They took a step forwards in the shock 1–0 win over Arsenal but this was a reminder that Dyche has a hell of a lot of  work to do to ensure this club does not drop out of the Premier League
If Everton win their next two home games, against Leeds and Aston Villa, then this performance will have been forgotten.
Once Salah scored only his eighth Premier League goal of the season, there was only ever going to be one winner.
But the irony is that Liverpool’s goal came just 15 seconds after Everton defender James Tarkowski saw his header from Alex Iwobi’s corner hit the post.
Yet the defender who scored the shock winner against Arsenal could not have believed the way Liverpool surged forward leaving the entire Everton team as virtual spectators.
Gakpo made it 2-0 after 49 minutesCredit: AFP
It was the Dutchman’s first goal for LiverpoolCredit: PA
Nunez picked the ball up on the edge of his own area, played a quick one-two with Salah, and then showed incredible pace by sprinting the length of the pitch before crossing for the Egyptian
Salah was one of three Liverpool players who had raced to the edge of the area and his first-time shot looked to be far easier than it should have been, partly because Jordan Pickford’s positioning was utterly bizarre.
Although it was Salah who scored, Andy Robertson was waiting behind to pounce, which is some effort as he had defended the corner.
Yet the Scottish defender also put the burners on at the start of the second half, bursting past flat-footed Seamus Coleman and Abdoulaye Doucoure to play a part in the second.
Robertson raced into the second half before Salah and Alexander-Arnold to create a simple far-post tap-in for Gakpo although Everton’s defending, again, was poor.
Jordan Pickford made several saves but couldn’t prevent either Liverpool goalCredit: Reuters
There was a rare outing for Everton’s under-pressure boardCredit: Reuters
Gakpo had missed an easy header in the first half so this will certainly have helped his confidence
And maybe, over the next few weeks, he can start to flourish as it would not have been easy coming into a side which is still nursing a hangover from last season.
Substitute Tom Davies wasted a decent chance in the final few minutes but showed a lack of composure and his header floated into the Kop.
At the end, we were treated to the most cheerful fight you will ever see at a game. Pickford barged into Andy Roberton, annoyed that the left-back had kicked the ball away but it was all good natured.
Yet the other players did not see it that way, Conor Coady confronted Robertson who, while laughing, shouted “f**k off”.
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Eventually, the pair were handed yellow cards for their part in the comedy.
But ultimately, there was no need for anyone in a red shirt to get too angry because, for once in this nightmare season, everything actually went to plan. More

GARY NEVILLE was left baffled by the Premier League’s “third man rule” after Ruben Dias and Mario Lemina bookings for dissent. Lemina was sent off in Wolves’ 2-1 win over Southampton with his second booking due to dissent.
Mario Lemina was sent off against Southampton after getting a second yellow for dissentCredit: PA
Similarly, Manchester City’s Dias was cautioned for questioning the official’s decision following a foul on Kevin de Bruyne.
The FA and ruled bosses the PGMOL have clamped down on dissent this season.
And Wolves captain Ruben Neves appeared to suggest Lemina was carded due to being the third man to run up to ref Jarred Gillett.
Neves told the BBC:  “You really want to know what he told me?
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“So he told me there were two players running to him and because Mario was the third one he gave him a yellow card.
“So now we go and check the rules, if there is any.”
Dias was also booked after being the third to complain about a challenge on De Bruyne following after Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish.
It ties into the theory that the third man to run over to contest a ref’s decision will automatically be booked.
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Gary Neville told Sky Sports: “Surely it should be the first man.
“If you’re the one that’s instigated it, and then your team-mates have followed in, it’s got to be the first man that gets booked not the third.
“What happens to the fourth, if there’s a fourth that attends the scene?”
Ex-Premier League official Dermot Gallagher denied the “third man” rule after Lemina and Dias’ bookings.
He said on Sky Sports News: “The difference with Dias is he comes an awfully long distance to make his point.
“That’s what the referee is upset about there and it’s nothing about being the third man there, it’s all about players surrounding the referees.
“It has been reported to the FA and now they want to take more action.”
Ruben Dias booked against Aston VillaCredit: Rex More

EVERTON keeper Jordan Pickford’s “penalty cheat sheet” was spotted on his water bottle during their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Monday night.The England shot-stopper, 28, had the spot-kick records for Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez, James Milner and Cody Gakpo at hand for the clash with Liverpool.
Jordan Pickford did his homework when it came to Liverpool penalty takersCredit: Reuters
Pickford’s bottle shows that all four players favour going to the keeper’s leftCredit: Reuters
And we now know he would have dived left for any penalty… with the stopper’s research showing all four preferred to shoot that way.
But that’s not it, Pickford’s magic water bottle even tells him where to stand for each taker and what to watch out for in their run-ups.
The Toffees star’s receptacle showed that Nunez, Milner and Gakpo all shoot to their right – Pickford’s left – more than 60 per cent of the time as opposed to down the middle or to the opposite side.
Salah goes that way a bit less, but still picks it more than any other at 46.7 per cent.
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However, there are also finer details for the Toffees No1 to analyse when each of them step up.
When Salah takes, his sheet tells him to “check run up”, while a Nunez spot-kick means he will have to “wait right”.
For Milner, there is another note to “check run up”, while Gakpo’s brief simply states “GK left”.
And this is not the first time Pickford has had penalty notes put on his water bottle.
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In 2021, he had a very similar set of diagrams on his bottle for a game against West Ham.
He was also believed to have things written on his bottle during England’s World Cup shootout victory over Colombia in 2018.
Yet despite his pre-match revision for the Liverpool game, the England keeper did make a first-half howler.
At the end of a blistering Liverpool counter-attack, Pickford attempted to come out and meet Nunez’s cross.
But instead he left Salah with an open goal as the Egyptian gratefully accepted the invitation to break the deadlock.
And Gakpo added his first Liverpool goal four minutes into the second half to seal the Reds’ first league win of 2023. More

BAFFLED fans jokes Jordan Pickford was in a “different postcode” as his positioning blunder handed Mo Salah a tap-in. Everton were broken by a rapid Liverpool counter attack after James Tarkowski’s header had hit the post.
Jordan Pickford after conceding against LiverpoolCredit: Reuters

Darwin Nunez raced free down the left wing and fired a cross into the box that looked towards onrushing Salah and Reds team-mate Cody Gakpo.
But Pickford didn’t seem to notice the Egyptian superstar as he made a beeline to close down Gakpo near his far post.
Unfortunately for the England keeper, Salah sneaked in front and finished into an empty net that Pickford had vacated.
It left the England stopper on the end of harsh criticism
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One said: “Pickford was in a different postcode.”
Another said: “What is this positioning from Jordan Pickford?”
One posted: “Did Pickford not realise Salah was there?”
Another added: “The ball is clearly going to come in from Pickford’s right so why has the England No 1 decided to focus on the last attacker in the chain & ignore the attackers in front of goal?
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“Poor positioning. It may not have stopped the goal but he’s left the goal open..”
On commentary, Gary Neville said: “It’s not interesting, it’s just bad.
“I’ve no idea what he’s doing he makes a real mess of it and its very easy for Mo Salah.”
Cody Gakpo doubled Liverpool’s lead in the second half with the game finishing 2-0.
Mo Salah wheels away in celebrationCredit: Reuters More