LIVERPOOL 0 EVERTON 0

Team of the day..
Reina, Riise, Agger, Carragher, Finnan, Bellamy, Alonso, Gerrard MBE (c), Pennant, Crouch, Kuyt.
Subs - Dudek, Fowler, Gonzalez, Hyypia, Zenden

liverpoolfc.tv reports..
Rafa's side have extended their excellent run of not conceding a Premiership goal at home to eight games and they have now taken 28 points from a possible 33, but they will be frustrated after failing to beat Everton despite dominating for long periods.

The Reds fairly laid siege to the Everton goal, particularly in the second half, but they just couldn't break down a stubborn blue rearguard. And they must be content with maintaining a 14 point lead over their neighbours while closing the gap on Chelsea and Manchester United.

Heavy fog on Merseyside had made visibility difficult on the way to the ground; and after the opening 45 minutes finished goalless it was no easier to see who would win this Derby encounter.

Chances were of a premium in the first half and although Craig Bellamy scored a 10th minute goal that was ruled out for offside, neither goalkeeper was severely tested. The best save of the first half did come from Tim Howard though when he kept out Peter Crouch's 8th minute shot with his legs.

Liverpool were in the ascendancy for most of the first half, but they found it difficult to breach Everton's five man midfield. And when they did break through they were frustrated, like when Bellamy just failed to get a touch to Kuyt's header when any kind of touch would have resulted in a goal.

It was a typical derby. Space was as a rare as a tackle being executed without conviction. But Liverpool battled to gain the upper hand and Kuyt forced Howard into another save before Alonso hit a powerful drive just inches over.

Everton's best chance appeared to come from set pieces and they threatened with a shot from Hibbert and a header from Osman that were both saved comfortably by Pepe Reina.

Liverpool emerged for the second half with a sense of urgency that was typified by Xabi Alonso's 49th minute strike from 25 yards that, like his previous effort, flashed just over. And they went on to enjoy their best period of the game that saw both Kuyt and Crouch come close to breaking the deadlock.

The Reds were on top, but they almost shot themselves in the foot when a loose pass allowed Andy Johnson a free run on goal. They needed a fine block from Carragher and an excellent save from Reina to get them off the hook.

Normal service was resumed when Gerrard curled a superb free kick just inches wide of Howard's left hand post, but as hard as Liverpool tried they couldn't find the winner that they were desperate for.

Rafa's comments..
"There was only one team that wanted to win and one team that didn't want to lose and it is frustrating because we deserved to win the game," insisted Benitez.

"They had a chance in the second half after our mistake but Pepe made a good save. Apart from that we controlled everything. We had three strikers and Pennant and Riise saw a lot of the ball but they had nine men all the time behind the ball.

"When you play against the smaller teams at Anfield you know the game will be narrow and compact and at times we were a little bit nervous. We have to be disappointed not to have taken all three points."

Louis' Comments..

It's a disappointing and frustrating match to watch. I was moaning and complaining throughout the match. I was frustrated due to the fact that Liverpool couldn't break the defence down. It's true that Everton defended real deep and was going for a draw. However, being a good team, we should be always be able to break down teams which come to Anfield with defensive tactics and just a mentality to get a point.

Credit to Everton, they defended real well and closed down on us really well. They didn't give much space for us to pass around and we failed to create much chances to threaten the goal as well.

We played well, but not good enough to score a goal. In football, when you can't score, you just can't win. We would see this match as a 2 points loss. Chelsea won their game hence, the gap is now seven points. It's hard to catch up, but most importantly, we have to keep up the pace and make sure we can able to cut down on them when they slip.

Newcastle is next, a difficult place to visit. We have to make sure we have to carry on the good form and at least, make sure that our third place is stable. Of course, for Liverpool's standard, we shouldn't be just aiming for third, still, we should be aiming at the best based on our current situation.

Come on REDS!

you'll never walk alone..

cheers.