Five positives for Liverpool

Sadio Mane’s stoppage-time winner broke the deadlock and earned Liverpool the points in Monday’s Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park. The 1-0 win lifts Liverpool up to second in the table and means they will be six points behind Chelsea at Christmas.

It was a hard-fought win but one Jurgen Klopp felt was deserved. “I can’t remember one chance for Everton,” he told Sky Sports afterwards. He was more circumspect about his team’s title chances but this was a result that will surely bring real belief.

Here we pick out five reasons why Liverpool supporters will be particularly encouraged by their 1-0 win over Everton…

Mignolet’s clean sheet

It was a big call for Klopp to drop Loris Karius, the man he had clearly identified as Liverpool’s first-choice goalkeeper, but it has proven to be the right one. Simon Mignolet has returned to the starting line-up and promptly produced two consecutive clean sheets away from home.

The Belgian has not had much to do but if, as Gary Neville suggested, Karius was “transmitting anxiety” to his team-mates, Mignolet deserves some credit for restoring order. This, their final game before Christmas, was Liverpool’s first 1-0 win in 2016.

Klavan stepping up well

If Mignolet coming in for …

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