Klopp counts on cool heads to win Merseyside derby

Cool heads and fresh legs will hopefully help Liverpool win at Everton on Wednesday, but they will have to do it without Diogo Jota who picked up an injury at Fulham, manager Juergen Klopp said.

Liverpool left some key players out of their starting line-up for Sunday’s 3-1 win at Fulham, including Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister, ahead of the Merseyside derby.

“We had to do it,” Klopp told reporters on Tuesday. “We’ll see what we can do now for this game … hopefully again we will have a lot of fresh legs on the pitch.”

Sunday’s win was Liverpool’s first in three Premier League games as they sit second in the table with 74 points from 33 matches, equal with leaders Arsenal and one ahead of defending champions Manchester City who have a game in hand.

Jota scored Liverpool’s third goal at Fulham but will now be out for two weeks with an injury, Klopp said.

“You have to deal with all the little setbacks, if it’s injuries, if it’s results,” Klopp said. “It’s all about how you can get the right feeling back again. And I am really happy with the response.”

Klopp said facing Everton away was always a challenge, with nine of the last 11 Merseyside derbies at Goodison Park ending in draws.

“Goodison Park can create quite a good atmosphere as well,” Klopp said.

“They always look ready for the game. We have to make sure we are ready for this one… Derby fever will be in minds, so we have to be cool and that’s an important part in preparing for the game.”