Jurgen Klopp names pair who have ‘real quality’ and player that is ‘back to his best’

Liverpool face Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Saturday.

Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Liverpool are preparing to face a ‘real difficult opponent’ in Everton – and are not counting the Merseyside derby as a one-off game.

The city’s bragging rights will be up for grabs when the two fierce rivals meet at Anfield tomorrow. Klopp has a sterling record in the fixture, having lost just once in 18 meetings during his eight years in the hot seat.

Yet that is something that Klopp feels ‘uncomfortable’ to talk about as Liverpool aim to get back to winning ways in the Premier League against Everton. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Reds chief said: “Never thought about it. It’s rather uncomfortable if you tell me about my good record because I could not be less interested in what happened, really.

“What does it mean? You won a game last week, you won a game five weeks ago, a year ago, 10 years ago, who cares? It’s really not important. What we always try to make sure [is] we don’t think about these kind of things – records and these kind of things.

“We make sure we are really ready for the game. We understand the importance of the game, we understand the pressure that comes up with it, that’s how it is. I can’t remember one moment when I said, ‘Oh, this weekend is the derby…’ and then enjoyed that thought. It is just not happening. There’s a lot of intensity, even before the first ball is kicked, and that is what you have to make sure – that you channel that in the right areas, that with all the extra motivation from outside you make sure you really play the way you want to play because that gives you a chance to win a football game. If you want to just play a game the other team is asking for then OK, you always react, you always react. We have to push through our own thing in moments.”

Liverpool are fourth in the Premier League table and a win will see them move to the summit. Certainly, the Reds’ start to the campaign has succeeded expectations after a summer that involved significant squad changes.

Everton, on the other hand, is 16th and has spent the last two seasons battling relegation. But the Toffees have won three of their previous four games, including a convincing 3-0 victory against Bournemouth. And Klopp is fully aware of Sean Dyche’s team’s formidable threats.
They obviously merit respect, he continued, because they perform so effectively. The fact that [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin is returning is obviously very beneficial and significant to them. Abdoulaye Doucoure appears to be back to his top form. That’s true quality surrounding him with [Jack] Harrison and [Dwight] McNeil in the wings. Idrissa Gueye was unable to play in the midfield (against Bournemouth), but there was skill, real talent, in [Amadou] Onana and [James] Garner.

“Last line, super-experienced and with [Jarrad] Branthwaite now a really good left-footed centre-half. That’s a good team and then England’s No.1 [Jordan Pickford] in the goal, so that’s a really good team. That’s what you think about. I understand the derby, but I cannot prepare it like a one-off game, we have to make sure that we play to our best and if we can do that then we are a really difficult opponent. And if we are a difficult opponent then we can win the game and if we do that then it’s fine. That’s all we are thinking about.”