Everton will be hoping that an impressive win against Cardiff midweek can help provide some momentum as they head towards a difficult Merseyside Derby on Sunday.
But with the Reds top of the table and putting on an impressive display beating Marco Silva’s former employers Watford 5-1, what is the view from the Kop ahead of the tie? I caught up with Shrewsbury Town Media Assistant and Liverpool fan Shauna Callan to discuss the big game.
Klopp has been talking a big game ahead of the derby saying that it will “be like a Cup Final” for Everton. Do you worry that Klopp will have fired the Everton players up with his comments?
There is a possibility that Klopp will have fired up Everton with that comment.
In the reverse fixture in December, they played the best I have seen them play against Liverpool for a while and lost out to a last-minute goal, so I think they will be out for revenge this time around, and will probably do everything in their power to take points away from us to prevent us winning the league. So I think they were already fired up, but those comments might have helped that even more.
By Klopp saying the derby will be like a cup final for Everton, I think he’s forgotten that every remaining Premier League fixture for us is a cup final. With Manchester City breathing down our necks we need to win every game to make sure we win the title.
Personally, I would’ve wanted him to keep quiet but he’s trying to play mind games with the opposition. We see many other managers do the same before a big fixture. We’ll just have to see whether Everton treat it like a cup final.
Liverpool have slipped in the past couple of weeks after looking uncatchable in January. How important is a win at Goodison to regain momentum?
A win against Everton at Goodison is really important for us in our title challenge. For some reason, in quite a few of the games since January, we haven’t been performing as well as we did at the start of the season; whether that’s because the players feel a huge amount of pressure to win the title or other teams have figured out the way we play is the million-dollar question.
We had a chance to capitalise on our points lead in our game in hand against United and with injuries we had everything going our way, but I’m not sure if it was the way we lined up or the loss of Firmino but I really felt like we had wasted our chance of gaining a significant points difference.
We needed to bounce back against Watford and we did. Not only did we win, but we played some great football that we saw at the start of the season. So, if we get the win in the derby on Sunday, it will give everyone confidence to go on and win the remaining games. Plus, it’s the derby, so of course that’s also very important to win.
Latest reports suggest Firmino will be available for the Derby. How big a boost is that to your chances?
Having Firmino available for the derby will give us a huge boost. Like I said before, the loss of Firmino against United really affected us and I believe that if he had stayed on the pitch, the score line might’ve been different. He doesn’t get on the scoresheet as much as he would like but he is pivotal in the squad in his work rate on and off the ball and helping to assist the likes of Mane and Salah.
Of course, every player is important but having Firmino return will be positive for us in our game against Everton, as well as the nine games that will come after.
What’s your favourite derby moment?
Every derby win for Liverpool is my favourite. But I have to say that the one that sticks out for me is the last one. December 2018. This is because Everton made it really difficult for us to score and play the way we usually do and come the 90 minutes I said to myself: “I’ll take the draw”.
But in the last seconds, a mistake by Jordan Pickford gifted Divock Origi with the ball and he scored. I was so happy, more so because it was a relief in a way that we had won. Also, the celebrations from players, fans and Jurgen made it that more special.
Which Everton player do you think will pose the biggest threat to Liverpool?
I think from the other night that Gylfi Sigurdsson can be a threat to Liverpool. He scored twice so there will be nothing stopping him from putting the ball past Alisson on Saturday if he gets the right service. But I think if Jagielka starts against us, that he will be a huge threat in defence. He has so much experience in the big games and will know how to put a stop to our forwards. But again, you can’t count any player out as they could always surprise us.
Which Liverpool player do you think will pose the biggest threat to Everton?
Origi is the biggest threat to Everton after scoring that winner in December! I’m just kidding. You would expect me to probably say Sadio Mane or Mo Salah, and I’m sure they will be a threat to them, but for me it’s Fabinho. We signed him in August and fans wanted him to play straight away, but Klopp knew that he wasn’t quite ready to play in the Premier League so he just had him training with the team.
I think this has paid off, he is now starting in more and more games and he deserves it. When we lose possession, he wins the ball back and when we have possession, he drives the ball forward. He’s a composed figure in the team and is becoming a fan favourite.
So Everton will have to watch out for him as we know he isn’t one to score but he does a hell of a lot of work off the ball to help the team.
Also, from the Watford performance, Trent Alexander-Arnold will pose a threat down the right as he is quick and can create some great chances; I mean he assisted three goals in our 5-0 win over Watford and we really missed him against United. So those two will be very important to the team if we want to win.
You can’t rule out Mane or Salah either. Salah is one goal shy of his 50th in the Premier League so he will be hoping to get that against our rivals.
Score Prediction?
Before our match against Watford, I would’ve said 2-0 to Liverpool, but seeing the way we played, I’m going to say 3-1 to Liverpool. I think Everton will sneak a goal this time.
