Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp ready for ‘high-pressure’ Merseyside derby with Everton

LONDON – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is looking forward to a “special” and intense Merseyside derby as he prepares to welcome Everton for their English Premier League clash on Saturday.

The Reds head into the match on the back of

a 2-2 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion

before the international break, a result that meant that Klopp’s men are fourth in the table on 17 points.

However, they can go top for a couple of hours before Arsenal face Chelsea, and Klopp has urged his men to go all out, especially for a game with huge significance.

“It’s a special game, a high-pressure game and they all played them. They are used to the kind of game,” he said. “I don’t think we should make too big for them, but I think they are ready for it.

“The facts are Everton are in a good moment. Successfully stayed up (last season) was not easy and last few weeks they have results with performances.

“Derbies are all difficult for different reasons, and Everton have got results... in their best moments, they are a super difficult team to play.”

Klopp may be cautious, but the odds are overwhelmingly in Liverpool’s favour for this match.

The Reds are unbeaten in 18 of their last 19 league games, and have five wins from five at Anfield in all competitions this season – scoring at least two goals on each occasion.

Everton have also defeated Liverpool only once in the last 28 Merseyside derbies and it is hard to see anything other than a win for the Reds on Saturday.

Klopp will again be counting on the talismanic Mohamed Salah, who has six goals and four assists in 10 appearances in all competitions this season.

Andy Robertson, meanwhile, is likely to undergo surgery after injuring his shoulder while on international duty with Scotland last week.

The Reds also remain without Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak and the suspended Curtis Jones, while Cody Gakpo is a doubt.

Diogo Jota is back from a one-game suspension.

Everton, meanwhile, are lying in 16th place.

But Sean Dyche’s men will be boosted by three wins in their last four matches, even though their last two league wins were against struggling Brentford and Bournemouth.

The manager said that the Toffees will try to tune out the noise in their quest for a rare victory at Anfield.

“It’s a tough place to go,” Dyche said on Thursday.

“So, I don’t think we’ll be listening to the kind of the noise around it. There is a lot of noise, rightly so, it is a big game.

“It’s more about our focus to get through that and concentrate on our performances. When the whistle blows, you’re focusing on the teams.

“But the build-up, the feel around it... it’s a proper derby, certainly the biggest one I know.”

He will get a boost with the return of Idrissa Gueye, who played for Senegal in a friendly against Cameroon on Monday, and is fit after a heel injury kept him out of their win over Bournemouth.

Captain Seamus Coleman returned to training but Dyche confirmed that he “needs time”.
REUTERS