STEELE: Klopp's 'mentality monsters' have looked like mentality MINNOWS

It was sung with a hint of trepidation at first but soon spread around this grand old stadium like a virus. 'You lost the league at Goodison Park,' was the chant, ramping up in volume and speed as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes.

After countless occasions of last-minute goals for the red half of Merseyside in this fixture, Everton fans feared jinxing it by jumping the gun and singing too early. But as the minutes went by, an unexpected but richly deserved outcome came to fruition.

Liverpool players collapsed to the turf at full-time looking like they had just ran a marathon. The Premier League title race is a marathon not a sprint and, although the Reds started fast and kept the pace for longer than most expected, they have slowed to a walk in the final miles.

Of course, it is not over until it is over. But the form of Manchester City and Arsenal means a fairytale ending for Jurgen Klopp now requires a miracle more special than the long list of heroics which have come before for the German boss, who says he needs a 'crisis' elsewhere.

Speaking of Arsenal, the last Evertonian to score in a Merseyside Derby win at Goodison Park was Gunners boss Mikel Arteta way back in 2010. 'Well not any more,' laughed Dominic Calvert-Lewin. 'It's myself and Jarrad Branthwaite, we kick on and put all those records to bed.'

More on Everton later - they deserve rich plaudits for this victory. But first, a Liverpool inquest: is this defeat, their second in three league matches, a huge surprise? All season, they have started games poorly by going 1-0 down in 15 league matches.

Sooner or later, it was going to catch up with them. So too was an injury crisis that has plagued the squad all year, with Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo particularly missed