Despite being on the wrong end of a 3-1 chasing at the hands of champions-elect Manchester City last time around, Sam Allardyce only made one change to his Everton side as they welcomed Liverpool to Goodison Park for the Merseyside derby.
That meant that Morgan Schneiderlin kept his place in a central midfield that was asked to withstand a large amount of Liverpool possession, especially in the second half.
That decision was not popular with Everton fans at kick-off but by full-time, the Goodison faithful admitted that the Frenchman had put in a solid performance in the 0-0 draw.
Everton could have won it at the end as Cenk Tosun and Dominic Calvert-Lewin spurned extremely presentable chances to score but a draw was a fair result on the balance of play.
Schneiderlin – valued at £18m by Transfermarkt – showed some of the energy and pressing that earned him a move to Manchester United in 2015, when he was one of the most highly rated midfielders in the Premier League and we’ve taken a closer look at the best of the reaction as some Toffees fans munched on humble pie…
Schneiderlin redeemed himself today. Solid performance. Arguably our best player.
— Hayden (@HJJ92_) April 7, 2018
Great chance to finally put that hoodoo to bed today, should have won it. Schneiderlin showed what he can do when he's bothered. Tosun showed some neat touches, but we're crying out for an Arteta/Pienaar type who can put their foot on it!! #EFC
— Lee Pazzini10 (@LeePazzini) April 7, 2018
Can u tell me How many forward passes our whole team made? Don't scapegoat schneiderlin once again for a poor game, his role is to control the ball an slow the game down an he done it when Liverpool were on the front foot not his fault Sam making them sit back
— KieranDuty_6 (@Kieran_EFC_Duty) April 7, 2018
turning into a Morgan Schneiderlin defence lawyer
— Jack (@JackEFC95) April 7, 2018
Was You Watching The Same Match…. Schneiderlin Actually Done Well Today.
— Abbie Reichardt (@AbbieReichardt) April 7, 2018
Tell you what, shooting practise has to be highest priority at Finch Farm this upcoming week, how the ball didn’t end up in the back of the net in the last 10 minutes is an absolute farce.
Jags, Keane and Schneiderlin stand out performers. Bolasie embarrassed himself.
— Tom Ferguson (@TomFerguson) April 7, 2018
Schneiderlin was awesome but 👍🏼
— C.B (@cbutler1878) April 7, 2018
Schneiderlin was absolutely excellent today. That's what I hate about him, he's got it in droves, he just can't be arsed showing it most of the time.
— Tom G🌹 (@Gillotine92) April 7, 2018