Derby delight

The first Derby of the season then and you know these games are always going to be a physical war of attrition and so I wasn’t surprised to see Wirtz drop to the bench for this one, as this was always going to be a fight in midfield, especially in the first half hour. Mac Allister is one of the most underrated players in the world in my opinion but a seriously underrated part of his game is his physicality, despite his diminutive stature. Despite that combative nature though, he’s the epitome of calm and composure, a player you know isn’t going to do something rash or stupid and so I agreed with him replacing Wirtz for this game.

It was another of our midfielders that would be grabbing the headlines however, as the prodigy that is Ryan Gravenberch put us 1-0 up early, showing outrageous technique to turn a bouncing, spinning ball into the net on the half volley with a finish Haaland would’ve been proud of. As much as I enjoyed Gravenberch’s performances last season, I did feel we lost something by him holding back offensively. He’d shown in his limited game time in his first season that he has an eye for goal and a killer pass but last season, he didn’t really look to impose that aspect of his game on teams. This season looks different though. A goal and and assist today, adding to his excellent strike against Newcastle and we now have yet another goal threat in our team. It’s scary to think he’s only 23, he really doesn’t have a ceiling. This kid has everything to be the best midfielder in the world and is this week’s McMOTM.

Speaking of kids with no ceiling, Ekitike continued his fine start to life at Anfield with a well taken goal. The lovely first touch and quick finish showed what he’s all about. It’s funny, if you watch Ekitike and were to think of another CF he reminds you of, it would be Isak. Now Slot has two of them but you can see why Darwin wasn’t his cup of tea as a striker. Isak and Ekitike couldn’t be more different to Nunez.

Kerkez had his best game for us so far I thought and Connor Bradley had a brilliant battle with Grealish on the other side as well.

For years I’ve argued with people about the need for a competitive squad and what we’re seeing right now is the rewards for such. Look at who have been the shining lights this season – Szoboszlai was the player who’s position everyone thought was under threat when we signed Wirtz but he’s been our best player and no way you could justify picking Wirtz ahead of him on current form. Isak’s come in but Ekitike is making sure everyone knows what he can do as well. Robbo comes in and plays well and we see Kerkez game go up a level on his next appearance. Competition for places keeps everyone on their toes, knowing that if they don’t perform, there’s another quality player in waiting to take their place.

We’ve not been perfect by any means but the last couple of games we’re starting to see things click and play some nice stuff. We’ve not quite got the balance for the whole 90 mins yet but we improve game by game and with a 100% record so far, that should worry our opponents.

Looking forward to seeing some of our fringe players against Southampton in the cup. Walk on!