Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that his players won’t buckle under the pressure of the atmosphere at Goodison Park when the Reds take on Everton on Monday night.
Liverpool take on Everton in a high-stakes, highly anticipated Merseyside derby on Monday night. Defeat for either side is unacceptable as that will not only give their cross-town rivals the bragging rights until the next derby, but will also have implications on their aspirations for the season.
Liverpool manager, who will be managing his second Merseyside derby on Monday, acknowledged that the atmosphere at Goodison Park will be outstanding, but remained confident that his side’s approach will “make it as difficult as possible for the Everton fans to enjoy the game”.
As reported by the Liverpool Echo, Klopp said: “I’m not afraid of it, it’s only football. I like it. It makes the job a little bit different, but at the end it is still the same job. You need to be really aggressive but not on the edge where you will be illegal. Use the noise!”
The influence of the Goodison atmosphere was on display last week as the Everton fans raised the noise levels to heap pressure on the Arsenal players, and eventually saw their side triumph in a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Gunners. However, Klopp said that he’s in a positive mood heading into the crunch game.
He added: “Our job is to make it as difficult as possible for (Everton’s fans) to enjoy the game. Football is not the most important thing in the world but on Monday night I’d say for 90 minutes in and outside Liverpool it is. So let’s do our best. I am already in a positive mood.”
Klopp’s first Merseyside Derby as the Liverpool manager ended in an emphatic manner for the Reds as his side routed Everton to win 4-0 in April, as the Anfield outfit stretched their unbeaten run against their city rivals to 12 matches.
The match on Monday will be his first derby at Goodison Park and it will be interesting to see if he can charge his side up to turn a recent run of away results against Everton, with the last four matches ending in a draw.
