Flat Liverpool face questions in weeks ahead after being held by Everton in derby

Without Mohamed Salah, the Reds looked sluggish after resuming the Premier League campaign at Goodison Park

The value of patience, and that doesn’t just apply to watching this mostly turgid derby.

Liverpool look set to wait that bit longer for the title, Everton must wait that bit longer for a win in this fixture, although the home side will be happier with how this went.

There were more encouraging signs for Carlo Ancelotti. As for Jurgen Klopp, that’s harder to say.

Liverpool have now won just two of the last seven - with the obvious caveat that there was a three-month break between their last match and this.

Debate will grow over whether that run is down to the postponement or something bigger, especially if this wait for the title also grows.

Gylfi Sigurdsson of Everton battles for possession with Jordan Henderson of Liverpool and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Liverpool (2020 Pool)

That’s also going to be one of the sub-plots over the next few weeks. With the title all but won, Liverpool’s performances are not going to be judged in the context of this campaign, but instead titles to come.

And sure, they didn’t have their best XI here, but that’s part of the point, since Klopp is eventually going to have to make big decisions to perpetuate this side. It might not be soon, but it is not avoidable.

It stands out when any of that front three are missing, as was the case here, but they are all now over 28. That puts them in their prime, of course, but can be a slightly more advanced age when so much of your play is based on vibrant speed.

That was one reason why some of the questions about not signing Timo Werner were fair. That’s also why it’s going to be important to play Takumi Minamino more and more. It’s the only way he’s going to learn to adjust to the rhythm of this team, something that is still evidently a work in progress. It was all the more pointed that Klopp hauled him off for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at half-time

The problem - and mini-dilemma - is that you wouldn’t willingly break up that front three when they’re all fit.

Games like this without Mo Salah indicate why.

There was a raggedness to Liverpool beyond that, and feeds into the theories that some in the Premier League have, that this long break does not suit the most physically powerful teams. Klopp’s side were nothing like themselves in that regard.

It was a much flatter performance. There wasn’t the same pressing, or verve. Even Trent Alexander-Arnold was firing long passes into empty stands.

Those same empty stands, and the circumstances, also seemed to suit Everton. Liverpool’s laxness wasn’t just down to themselves, after all.

Ancelotti has clearly learned from his own painful experience in this derby so far. This was a much cannier approach, with Everton seeking to deny all that space for Liverpool to run into. And with Klopp’s side not counter-pressing to the usual level, it meant there wasn’t the same chaos, of the type that Everton usually fall apart in.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's free-kick is deflected over by the Everton wall (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Jordan Pickford’s defence were admirably resolute here.

Seamus Coleman led the way with some of his retreats, brilliantly marshalling Sadio Mane. Lucas Digne was typically dependable.

From that, Everton were made to be patient, and wait for any chances to pounce, Most of those fell to Richarlison, who was tasked with furrowing the Liverpool half, and it was perhaps no surprise he snatched at one second-half chance. He was carrying quite a burden.

You could certainly understand Ancelotti setting up as if he was just seeking to avoid humiliation, given the recent nature of this derby. It’s often gone to farcical levels for Everton, not least in that last meeting, in the FA Cup.

If you wanted to be cruel, you could say similar for Dejan Lovren, but it was his introduction that coincided with an inspired Everton spell.

They will feel they missed a chance. Liverpool missed their best form.