Liverpool news: The Anfield Wrap’s Josh Sexton on Everton draw

The final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park having four goals, four red cards and last-kick-of-the-game drama, only felt like a fitting way to say goodbye to The Old Lady.

Being honest, I’ll be more than glad to see the back of the place for how it makes Everton players seem 10-feet-tall in recent derbies, and in contrast makes Liverpool’s stars look a lot less than the sum of their parts.

The Reds were simply not intelligent enough in their game management and I think a 2-1 win would’ve flattered them, and that’s what I think will rankle the most with Arne Slot.

Any refereeing decisions, luck or circumstance in moments are hardly likely to be the subject in the analysis rooms of their training centre in Kirkby, but I hope they’re having an in-depth chat about how they can be smarter in creating their own luck and not leaving games so in the balance as to let circumstance decide the outcome.

Besides Alexis Mac Allister, few of those that started on the night can say they felt they gave the best version of themselves. While I have some sympathy around the extenuating circumstances that Goodison Park and Michael Oliver provided, they’ll face more adversity in the coming weeks and months, and they’ll need cooler heads to prevail.

They possess those characteristics and the requisite depth to take any future challenges head on, but Slot may feel there is a lot both he and his players can learn from that cauldron of emotion they left some time after the final whistle.

Strip the emotion out of it, Liverpool. Play your best game, and not the occasion, and you can beat anybody in world football right now.

Find more from Josh Sexton at The Anfield Wrap