Everton vs. Liverpool: Reds Player Ratings From Merseyside Derby

Liverpool went to Goodison Park for the first Merseyside derby of the Premier League season and overcame a resilient Everton side to record a 2-0 win, courtesy of goals from Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.

The game swung back and forth during the opening quarter of the match, as both teams traded aerial assaults and stern challenges. However, Jack Rodwell's red card midway through the first period swung the game in Liverpool's favour.

Though opening goals took a while coming after a missed Dirk Kuyt penalty and a Charlie Adam shot was deflected by the crossbar, Liverpool opened the scoring in the second half and were never in danger of losing their lead from then on.

Here are the ratings for all Liverpool players from today's derby.

Pepe Reina: 7/10

A fairly quiet game for Reina as he kept his second clean sheet of the season.

A good leaping save in the first half saw him tip a Cahill header over the bar, but he had more work to do in the second half, shouting at his own defence and stopping Everton's efforts on goal.

Routine stops from Drenthe and Saha were about the extent of his afternoon's work, as well as the usual clutch of aerial collections which he did well with.

Martin Kelly: 6/10

A solid display on the right of Liverpool's defence from derby debutant Kelly, though he was unable to offer much of his usual thrust in attack.

He is obviously still searching for full sharpness after a stop-start beginning to the campaign, but he dealt well enough with the expectation of the occasion and rarely did anyone get the better of him.

Jose Enrique: 7/10

Liverpool's other fullback was also experiencing his first Merseyside derby, but Jose Enrique was as productive as anyone on the pitch in a game where nobody really stood out.

He did extremely well to overlap and cross for Liverpool's opening goal and looked to attack whenever possible.

Another pleasing display.

Jamie Carragher: 8/10

Probably Liverpool's Man of the Match, Jamie Carragher marshalled the Liverpool defence well and skippered his side to only their second clean sheet of the season.

Strong in the air when needed and neat with his distribution, Carragher was a founding pillar of the Reds victory and will think he wasn't tested as much as he might have been had Everton not been reduced to ten men early on.

Martin Skrtel: 7/10

Skrtel had a fine game in the centre alongside Carragher and also dealt well with Everton's aerial threat.

The only thing he really did wrong was stand off on occasions to give Saha room to shoot—thankfully, Liverpool were not punished by these.

A decent performance which helped Liverpool claim the clean sheet, but Skrtel will still be usurped by Agger when he returns.

Dirk Kuyt: 6/10

A busy performance from Dirk Kuyt which saw him at times try to link up well with Suarez in the centre, but a change with Downing to the left flank saw little success.

His penalty miss will prey on his mind, as he had the chance to net his sixth goal for the Reds against Everton, and his 50th league goal overall.

It wasn't his greatest strike ever, so he will be relieved that it did not cost the Reds two points in the end.

After spending so much time on the bench recently, he will have hoped for a good performance but he didn't really have a massive impact in the final third, though a clever dummy allowed Carroll to open the scoring.

Lucas Leiva: 6/10

Lucas seemed to struggle initially with Everton's overloading of the midfield zone and never really got his foot on the ball in the first half.

Some neat passing followed when the Reds had a one-man advantage, but he didn't really dictate the play as Liverpool could have in that situation.

He was eventually replaced late by Henderson.

Charlie Adam: 5/10

Like Lucas, Adam didn't impose himself enough on the game and when Liverpool could have looked to make the man advantage count, too often the second pass was delayed in the centre.

He was unlucky not to score with a rifled shot in the first half, which hit the bar, but he had little impact in the second half and was replaced by Steven Gerrard.

Adam will find his place increasingly under threat as the Reds get back to full strength.

Stewart Downing: 5/10

Left midfielder Stewart Downing struggled to get involved in the game and was replaced in the second half without having an impact in his first Merseyside derby.

The linkup with Jose Enrique was there initially, but too often Downing was looking to cross or beat a man from a standing position, unable to gain momentum open up room on the flank.

A first-half switch to the right flank produced nothing of note in the final third, and it wasn't a massive surprise when Downing's number was held up to allow Liverpool to attack with all four forwards on the pitch at the same time.

Luis Suarez: 7/10

A live-wire display from the enigmatic Suarez was as full of life and energy as usual, though perhaps lacking in effect today.

Even so, Suarez on a half day is worth most forwards on a good day and the Uruguayan won a penalty, was fouled to see Jack Rodwell sent off, had items thrown at him from the crowd and scored the second and decisive goal in his derby debut.

Suarez was definitely starved of support at times during the game, as Liverpool failed to get sufficient numbers into space but even so, another goal was gifted to him by a defensive misunderstanding, which Luis took advantage of.

Andy Carroll: 6/10

Carroll opened his league account for the season with a well-taken goal and gave Liverpool the lead. Hopefully, the goal gave him the confidence to continue building on his performances.

Until then, he had been a bystander involved in build-up play, which was too slow to benefit anybody in Red, and was reliant on receiving long passes from Pepe Reina.

Carroll got his goal, though, and looked fired up afterwards—if picked against Manchester United, he'll need that energy from the start.

Substitutes

Steven Gerrard—6/10

A third consecutive appearance from the bench takes Gerrard another step along the road to recovery, and though he did not get too involved he sent one good cross from the right side and will presumably be pleased to get a run in the centre of midfield.

Craig Bellamy—6/10

Sent on alongside Gerrard to play on the left of a four-man attack to get the Reds a win, Bellamy was also infrequently involved but showed good invention. He also displayed impressive restraint under a barrage of missiles thrown at him near the end of the game when taking a corner.

Jordan Henderson—n/a

Henderson only played a few minutes of the game as a late replacement for Lucas.

Not used

Doni, Coates, Flanagan, Spearing.