Arne Slot: Liverpool must handle emotion of Everton’s final Goodison derby Liverpool head coach Arne Slot hopes his first-choice side will handle the emotion of Goodison Park’s final Merseyside derby better than the second string whose “unacceptable” performance resulted in them being dumped out of the FA Cup by Plymouth.
“Every time you play against a team that wants to fight with you – and that is almost every time we play against any opponent but maybe this one even more – you have to be ready for that,” added the Dutchman, whose team could go nine points clear at the top of the table with victory.
“The Liverpool players were ready to compete but every time they touched them it was a free-kick so I assume our players are ready for another battle tomorrow for the simple reason they have been ready the whole season.”.
Slot said his players needed to display “a cool head but not cool legs” in the cauldron of a Goodison derby, having lost there for the first time since 2010 last April.
“It is probably going to be a fantastic atmosphere and that is never easy to play against because every single time they cross the halfway line or get a corner the fans will cheer for that and then you have to be mentally really strong as an away team to resist all that.
