Welcome to The Debrief, a Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate uses a blend of data and opinion to reflect on some of the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. This week:
🔴 Quansah’s intervention for Liverpool
🔥 Delap shows all-round game at Ipswich
🔵 Alcaraz’s impact on first Everton start
Quansah intervention wins it for Liverpool
Jarell Quansah’s season got off to an awkward start when he was substituted at half-time on the opening weekend against Ipswich and the Liverpool defender has been waiting for a positive moment ever since. He had it in his side’s 2-1 win over Wolves.
Quansah’s outstretched leg denied Marshall Munetsi what looked a certain equaliser late in the game at Anfield, saving two precious points in the title race and restoring their seven-point advantage over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table. It was big.
Titles are won this way. Last month, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez won points from the bench. It is more difficult for defenders to have their moment – unless you are Conor Bradley crunching Kylian Mbappe – but this was a vital intervention by Quansah.
Liverpool needed it in a nervy second half in which they did not register a shot on the opposition goal for the first time in a Premier League game at Anfield since Opta began collecting data.
“If you want to achieve something, of course, you need the goals from Mo [Salah], Lucho [Diaz] and all the others,” said Arne Slot afterwards. “But you need all these players because if you depend on them, they bring out performances like this.”
Liverpool needed him but Quansah needed this too. His previous starts had come in those defeats to PSV and Plymouth. He had erred in the Carabao Cup against Brighton and was fortunate to get away with another lapse in a later round against Southampton.
Jarell Quansah in action for Liverpool against Plymouth in the FA Cup
In December, coming on to help tighten things up against Fulham, he allowed Antonee Robinson to get in behind him to set up Rodrigo Muniz’s goal just minutes after coming on. This time, Quansah had the desired impact, earning the praise of his manager.
“He did really well,” said Slot. “I see in training sessions that he was back to being the same Jarell in pre-season. I think he had a bit of a hard time after being taken off at Ipswich then the first two or three games after he came in, he had a bit of a struggle.
“But he is showing now what he has shown in the last two to three months on the training pitch. When he comes in, he is back to his old level and you can see how important he is.” For both player and coach, there was a neat symmetry to it all.
That day against Ipswich, Slot turned to Ibrahima Konate with Quansah struggling. Against Wolves, it was Konate in trouble, on a booking and risking a red. That the 22-year-old stepped in and starred felt like a significant moment in Liverpool’s season.
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Sky Sports’ Adam Bate and Peter Stevenson reflect on a nervy 2-1 win at Anfield
Delap showing his range as a striker
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Ipswich’s draw at Aston Villa
Liam Delap has led the line for Ipswich with obvious appetite and no little quality this season but being at Villa Park to see his opener in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa highlighted the breadth of his skill-set as a striker. This was a true poacher’s effort.
“You are hoping to get the ball to Omari [Hutchinson] one-against-one and if you do create a chance you want it to go to Liam,” said Kieran McKenna. “It is good movement from Liam and a different type of goal from him, in terms of getting across his man.”
Delap has impressed with his willingness to run and his ability to carry the ball, often getting Ipswich up the pitch when seemingly isolated. He has carried the ball 118 times this season, only Alexander Isak doing so more among Premier League strikers.
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Liam Delap’s passing networks for Ipswich in the Premier League
Even Isak has not taken on a defender in such situations as often as Delap, who has done so 66 times this season. But at the end of those carries, Delap has had the fewest passing options of any of the top 10 ball-carrying strikers in the Premier League.
His goal against Villa showed what he can do when there are bodies up in support and hints that Delap has the potential to become a remarkably well-rounded player. He already ranks among the top young players in Europe in front of goal this season.
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Liam Delap’s shot map for Ipswich in the Premier League
Ipswich will need him to keep scoring all types of goals. “It is very important because if you are going to be the striker for us – in our first season back in the Premier League for 22 years – you are not going to be facing a low block every game,” added McKenna.
“Some games we will be more dominant and get more crosses in and things like that. Some games we’ll be counter-attacking. Some games teams will play a really high line and we’ll have space in behind them. You need that balanced threat that Liam has.”
Alcaraz impresses on first Everton start
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Everton’s Premier League win against Crystal Palace
A quick mention for Carlos ‘Charly’ Alcaraz, who scored a goal and provided an assist on his Premier League debut for Everton as their upturn continued under David Moyes with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace. He was involved in much of his side’s attacking play.
In fact, Alcaraz registered more shots than any other Everton player and created more chances. He has actually been involved in five goals in his last six Premier League away starts after finishing strongly at Southampton in his previous stint in the competition.
How Everton, still the lowest scorers in the Premier League away from home this season, needed that quality in the final third. Nobody in blue has bettered this total of eight shot involvements this season. Alcaraz, only 22, managed it in his very first start.
Moyes required this move to be a success as it was the club’s only incoming business during the January transfer window. “We knew a bit about him when he came in in terms of energy and being a young player who can improve,” he said afterwards.
Carlos Alcaraz’s heat map and passing sonar for Everton against Crystal Palace
“I think he did great for us and he got the goal. I thought he started to tire midway through the second half and he started to look as though he was getting cramp. It was lucky I didn’t take him off because he got the goal and after that we decided to change.”
Just about every decision that Moyes has made has worked out since his return to Goodison Park and the acquisition of Alcaraz could be among the best. “I am really pleased he has had a good start,” added Moyes. The same can be said for his manager.
