Several Liverpool stars have been criticised for their performances in Saturday afternoon’s Merseyside derby against Everton.
Liverpool earned their fifth Premier League win of the 2025/26 campaign from their fifth game to move six points clear at the top of the table.
Arne Slot’s side made a rapid start against Everton and raced into a 2-0 lead via goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike.
Everton improved after the break and pulled a goal back through Idrissa Gueye, but Liverpool kept their rivals at bay in the game’s closing stages to earn all three points.
Slot made four changes from Liverpool’s midweek 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, with Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak among those named on the bench.
READ: Liverpool better without Wirtz as Ekitike relishes Isak striker battle in Everton win
Wirtz and Isak were brought on in the match’s closing stages, though neither made a substantial impact as Liverpool were focused on getting over the line to seal another victory.
GOAL have given Wirtz a 6/10 match rating, claiming that he ‘showed glimpses of his quality but is arguably not doing enough to justify his huge £116m transfer fee’.
On Isak’s 6/10 performance, the outlet added: ‘Does add an extra bit of quality but may struggle to usurp Ekitike from the starting line-up for a while’.
Wirtz and Isak were not the lowest scorers for Liverpool, though. Conor Bradley and Dominic Szoboszlai were given 5/10 marks, while Slot was praised.
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On Slot, the report wrote: ‘His side started the game in impressive fashion and deservedly went two goals up.
‘But the Dutchman will be disappointed with how his team conceded again and still seemed to be in the changing room for a big chunk of the second period.’
Caught Offside, meanwhile, have hit out at another summer signing, claimimg Milos Kerkez ‘continues to struggle’ as he produced a ‘6/10’ showing against Everton.
They said: ‘A player who continues to struggle since his move in the summer, Milos Kerkez was once again a bit sloppy for Liverpool.’
Back to Wirtz, outspoken presenter Richard Keys has pointed out that he may not have the required tools to cope in the Premier League.
He claimed: “Does that mean he [Wirtz] doesn’t have the tools that are required to play in the hurly burly of the Premier League when games matter?”
He later added: “Is this based… do you think on the fact he has been anonymous and barely got a kick against Arsenal… and this will be the same sort of game.”
