A becalmed Gwladys Street was not quite what the Everton manager, David Moyes, had in mind when he reminded his side's fans before his game that "obscenities directed at opposition players can often spur them on" but that's what you get when a fixture in which so much blood has been spilt in the course of 208 encounters is so painfully uncompetitive. Becalmed? Bereft best described it.
Liverpool's best start in the Premier League is the story for those with eyes only for the gilded upper reaches of the Premier League but Everton's implosion - four defeats this season, no clean sheets since 6 April and with Arsenal and Manchester United up ahead next month - is the concern for those who cherish clubs which perform way beyond their means.
Moyes admitted for the first time after defeat that his prolonged contract discussions were spreading an air of uncertainty throughout the club and among players. "Possibly, yes," he said.
"And it is something that needs to be addressed. What happens is when the manager's position is uncertain then uncertainty can come into the club." Moyes' contract has been back with the Everton board for a month and the 45-year-old sees the need for the club to resolve with him what issues might lie in its small print and return it quickly. "Something like that, yes," he added.
But no contract can explain the defensive capitulation, for a three-minute period early in the second half, which gifted Liverpool a seventh win in nine at Goodison.
The secrets of Everton's fifth-best defensive record in the league last season did not include leaving Fernando Torres metaphorically twiddling his thumbs on the right-hand side of the penalty area while Robbie Keane twirls a cross over from the byline. It might seem far-fetched to suggest that a 34-year-old who plied much of his trade with Derby and Coventry could be the difference but the loss of Lee Carsley, who returned to his native Midlands and Birmingham City last May, has deprived Moyes of a defensive shield who served him so well.
The Everton manager's philosophy about improving his side each summer led him to lay out a club record £15m to put Marouane Fellaini from Standard Liège in Carsley's place.
It is early days for the 20-year-old Belgian, but Carsley is the individual you knew would be lurking in the patch of grass where the ball spun loose, after Phil Jagielka tackled Dirk Kuyt on 62 minutes - "second defending," is the football term. No one was on that patch this time. Except Torres, who thumped his second goal in.
Moyes, whose Uefa Cup trip to Liège on Thursday looks ominous following the 2-2 draw at Goodison, isn't sure whether he has got a stronger squad than last year, after all. "We've got a strong squad," he said. "We'll only be able to tell if it's stronger in the long run. We've got fewer numbers than last year."
There was one less when Tim Cahill was handed a straight red card for foul play after his challenge on Xabi Alonso, which Moyes will ask the referee, Mike Riley, to re-examine. But Jagielka had the true measure of affairs. "There are no excuses," he said. "You could argue the grass was too green and the ball was too round, but the fact is we were beaten by a better team. That's been the case in a couple of games this season."
The Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, had his feet on the ground too, despite his side's ascent to second. "I'm really happy but disappointed because it would have been better winning against Stoke," which was typical Benitez. The Liverpool manager's dance on the pitch at the end gave a more accurate sense of his excitement, with Torres finally looking ready to inject something after a languid start to the season.
Torres would have had a hat-trick had his angled right-foot shot, in space again, not been chalked off for a shove on Joleon Lescott as the ball came in. A marginal call. There was a reminder, in Liverpool's struggle to convert first-half dominance into goals, of their lack of potency against Sunderland, Aston Villa and Stoke and Benitez will know more about title aspirations after meeting Manchester City and Chelsea next month. But Moyes is the man left with most to brood over.