As Liverpool gets ready to meet Everton in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday, Arne Slot stated that his team is “ready for another battle.”
Nine of the last 12 games played at the home of the Premier League leaders have ended in draws, demonstrating their inability to win there in recent years.
At the end of this season, Everton—who have significantly improved under new manager David Moyes—will move from their ancient home to play in their brand-new, 52,888-seat Bramley-Moore Dock stadium on Liverpool’s waterfront.
As he gets ready for his first and last derby at Goodison, Slot thinks Liverpool’s challenge will be strengthened by the intensity of the event on Wednesday.
“It’s likely going to be an amazing atmosphere, and that’s never easy to play against because the fans will cheer every time they cross the half-way line, get a corner kick, or do anything else,” he stated on Tuesday.
“And then, as an away team, you have to be mentally tough to withstand all that atmosphere, and you still have to be focused on what you have to do, defending the set-piece, defending the corner kick, and as calm as you can be in this amazing atmosphere when you have the ball.”
“For the simple reason that they have been ready for the entire season, I assume our players are ready for another battle tomorrow,” he continued.
In order to allay relegation fears, the Dutchman, who is in his first season at Anfield, stated that his squad would need to maintain a “cool head but not cool legs” against Everton, who have won their last three Premier League games.
“You have to be prepared for that every time you play against a team that wants to fight with you, which is practically every time we play against any opponent, but maybe this one even more,” Slot stated.
Therefore, you must run as much and tackle with the same intensity. Be cool enough to play a good, firm tackle without crossing the line. And that’s where it begins. Usually, a game settles down a little after 10, 15, or 20 minutes, at which point you can begin to consider playing football even more.
With one game remaining, Liverpool leads second-place Arsenal by six points at the top of the Premier League. However, their attempt to pull off an unprecedented quadruple was dashed on Sunday when they lost to Championship struggling Plymouth in the FA Cup.
“I absolutely agree with a wise man who once told me that there is nothing positive to be gained from losing a football game,” Slot remarked.
The manager of Liverpool, who made numerous changes for the game, called the defeat “unacceptable.”
“We need to demonstrate a different side of ourselves tomorrow, as the performance fell well short of Liverpool’s expectations in addition to the outcome,” he stated.
Liverpool will undoubtedly be without fellow defender Joe Gomez against Everton, although Trent Alexander-Arnold may make a comeback from injury.
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