By Paul Tomkins.

Last week I wrote that Liverpool don’t do draws. And after a year without a 1-0 win, and leading Everton by that very scoreline with just seconds left, something had to give. It turns out that Liverpool do do draws, but they still don’t do 1-0 wins. (That sentence was in danger of getting a bit “Dey do do dat dough don’t dey dough“.)

I believe the stats suggest that a shot outside the area will result in a goal in roughly every 40 attempts, although the better shooters will presumably produce better odds; such as Steven Gerrard with his free-kick yesterday. When Phil Jagielka is lining it up, it’s probably one in every 200.

I felt concerned in those final few minutes that the Reds had backed too deep, to the point where the defence was almost on top of Simon Mignolet, making it harder for them to get to the edge of the box to block the shot when it came. But in the past two home games last-minute goals were conceded by attacking. Perhaps the desire to see out the 1-0 lead was right, and just badly executed. But in football, attack is always the best form of defence (that is, when it works; when it doesn’t, defence is the best form of defence, clearly).

But I saw signs of promise in the draw.

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