Liverpool 4, Everton 0: First Thoughts

Liverpool 4: Origi 43', Sakho 45+2, Sturridge 61', Coutinho 76'
Everton 0:

• Pre-game Thoughts: There's an odd feeling surrounding this Derby, as both sides have far larger concerns than their local rival from across the park. Both Everton and Liverpool have semifinals to worry about in the very near future, and you would have to think that would play a role in how the sides come out tonight. Then again, the last three Merseyside Derbies have ended in rather boring draws so all bets are off. 
  
  
• HUGE missed chance for Liverpool! Adam Lallana is put through on goal, and the simplest of square balls would have given Roberto Firmino the easiest of tap-ins. Instead, Lallana did his best Benteke impression and hit the 1v1 chance straight at the keeper. 
  
  
• James Milner picks up an early booking for a second mistimed challenge in the first seven minutes. It could be a long night if the cards start flying and/or Milner doesn't cool down a bit. 
  
  
• Twelve minutes in and Liverpool are giving Everton ALL THE SPACE to break into when they lose posession. Might be something to, you know, fix. 
  
  
• Lallana again with a missed opportunity. Moreno's excellent cross finds the English international at the back post, but his header back across the box fails to find Origi and instead falls to the feet of an Everton defender and is easily cleared. 
  
  
• Sakho finally gets the best of Lukaku, sticking with the strong striker and then putting in a perfect tackle in the box to halt the danger. 
  
  
• So. Good news: Lallana is getting into very dangerous areas. Bad news: he is wasting all his chances. In short, he looks both the most likely and least likely person on the pitch to score at the moment. 
  
  
• Lovren with a speculative effort from about thirty yards. It went about as well as you'd expect. 
  
  
• This time it's Firmino who gets put in on goal, only to be denied by the Everton keeper. Y'all, we need to practice some 1v1 situations at Melwood. 
  
  
• As we approach the half it is end-to-end at Anfield. There's a ton of space for both sides to run and play, and it hasn't been a boring scoreless draw so far.
  
  
• ***GOAL!*** Milner picks out Origi with an inch-perfect cross to the back-post. Origi rises above two defenders and heads home his first real chance of the night. 1-0 to the Reds!
  
  
• ***GOAL!*** Milner extends his team-leading assist tally, as he plays a beautiful 1-2 with Lallana at the edge of the box and then floats a dangerous ball across the face of goal to pick out Sakho, who heads it home. 2-0! 
  
  
• Halftime: Bagging a couple of goals before the half is our thing now, apparently. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. For about 43 minutes it looked like we were going to have another one of those "dominate and get nothing for it" games. And dominate Liverpool have: the Reds have over 60% of the possession, and have out-shot Everton 11-2, with 7 of those on frame. More of that in the second half, por favor. 
  
  
• Oviedo full-on slaps Moreno in the face. Play on, lads. 
  
  
• ***RED CARD*** Everton Funes Mori gets a straight red after a nasty stamp on Origi's ankle. Then he kicks the ball away for good measure. It's a well-deserved red, and one that isn't called nearly enough. Origi is legitimately hurt and has to be carried off the pitch. 
  
  
• So Everton, you wanted to take out Origi and you got Sturridge. Bold strategy. 
  
  
• Words can't really describe how angry I am at Everton and Funes Mori right now. Origi's a young player who fought through a terribly difficult season at Lille last year, and a rough start in Red this year. He's been on fire lately--5 goals in the last 5 appearances--and the Euros are right around the corner. Absolutely despicable behavior we just witnessed. 
  
  
• ***GOAL*** Lucas intercepts a pass and immediately puts Daniel Sturridge in on goal. Sturridge takes a touch to get it onto his left foot, and then buries the shot in the far corner. 
  
  
• Milner's having himself a hell of a game. He just intercepted a pass deep into the attacking third, skipped past a couple defenders, and then sent in a cross that creates a half-chance for Coutinho. GET IN. 
  
  
• Wee Joe Allen on for Roberto Firmino. Come on, Allen, make up for that bad miss in the Derby a couple season back by helping to pile on tonight. 
  
  
• Seventy minutes in now, and it's all one-way traffic for the Redmen. Everton are now just trying to keep it respectable. Granted, that went out the window when the red card came out. So. 
  
  
• ***GOAL!*** Allen picks out Coutinho, who does what everyone knew he was going to do: move the ball to the right and take a shot from outside the box. It comes off this time, and he drives a low shot into the far corner. 
  
  
• Do you like "Olés" Everton? Because you're getting olés.
  
  
• We have another Ibe sighting! Milner comes off after one of his best games in Red. Good timing on that. 
  
  
• Ref gives 7 minutes of stoppage time, because Everton don't deserve the mercy. 
  
  
• Into stoppage time and Lucas decides to have a crack from about 25 yards. This is apparently the funniest thing Kloppo has ever seen. His laugh is infectious, let it in and laugh with him. And then Sturridge tries to chip the keeper from outside the box, because why not? 
  
  
• Full Time: The result is fantastic, but it's hard to enjoy it too much knowing that Origi is likely facing an injury lay-off from the nasty red-card challenge from Funes Mori. You really have to feel for the young striker, especially if it costs him a spot in Belgium's Euro squad. Still, we've not beaten the Toffees since the last 4-0 win during that season, and beating Everton is always a fantastic feeling. 
  
  

We'll be back shortly to take an in-depth look at everything that happened in today's game with the full recap. Until then, let us know your take on the ups and downs of the match in the comments, and if you haven't already, join the community on the Liverpool Offside, where we'll have full coverage and lively in-game discussion for every match this season.