ALL SYSTEMS DIOGO

Title within touching distance now as Jota strike earns derby victory for champions-elect

- ANDY DUNN

IN Grand National week on Merseyside, Diogo Jota made sure there will be no Devon Loch-style collapse in the title race.

After their disappointments in the Champions League and Carabao Cup final, there were very faint suggestions that Arne Slot's side might falter dramatically in the Premier League run-in, but crossing the winning line is now a formality for them.

Just as it is a formality that this Everton manager does not win at Anfield, Jota's moment of brilliance in a mediocre game making it 22 matches without a victory at the home of the champions elect for David Moyes (below, with his Liverpool counterpart Slot).

Liverpool were far from their best but it is now just a question of keeping their concentration and getting the job done as efficiently as possible so that they can start the title-winning party.

And on this night, not only were they celebrating another derby win at Anfield, they were celebrating the fact that one of their number escaped serious injury.