Currently placed at third, Liverpool are flying high in the Premier League table, but Everton are struggling at a lowly 14th spot.
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Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is relishing the prospect of facing Everton in a hostile Goodison Park this midweek. The Reds will make the short trip across Stanley Park, with a Merseyside derby at the home of Everton to be played with supporters present for the first time since March 2019. Liverpool’s last two away clashes with their neighbours were played behind closed doors. The prospect of playing in front of the fans in a difficult stadium excites the English full-back. However, he insists that at the end of the day, it’s just a 90 minutes football match, which he wants to win for Liverpool.
“I personally like it, to be honest, just knowing you’re going into a hostile place where everyone wants to see you fail and do bad, it probably gives you that little bit more motivation,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “You feel… not arrogant, but you’ve got something to prove, which I’ve always felt. I like to perform in them arenas and atmospheres. We know that it’s going to be a loud one, a hostile one, for us going there but for us it’s 90 minutes of football. That’s what we do, that’s what we get paid to do, is to play 90 minutes and try to win the game. You strip back all the rivalry and the local derby away from it, it is still just 90 minutes of football and we have got a job to do out there.”
Alexander-Arnold also spoke about how much this clash means to the supporters of the city, as the winners get the bragging rights. He added: “I just always remember growing up watching it, knowing that they were big games. Whether the teams are at the top of the league, the bottom of the league, in the middle, got things to play for or not, it’s always a heated battle, always. It means a lot to the people of the city, to both sets of supporters. It’s bragging rights so it’s always an important game, always.”
Currently placed at third, Liverpool are flying high in the Premier League table, but Everton are struggling at a lowly 14th spot. “They’ll be looking to bounce back, they suffered a defeat that they probably won’t be too happy with on the weekend, so they will probably have a little bit more motivation to bounce back and want to do it in front of the home fans. But that’s football, every team has them little bits of motivation – we are a top, top team so every team wants to beat us,” Alexander-Arnold explained.
“But I’m also sure they will be worried about what we can do going the other way. The form that the front three are in at the minute is frightening; goals and the way they are contributing and linking up together, and the way the team is gelling at the minute is looking very good for us and I’m sure they will be watching our analysis with a little bit of fear in them.”
Liverpool are currently sitting at third with 28 points from 13 matches and are only two points behind table-toppers Chelsea (30 points). With a point less (29), Manchester City are sitting at the second spot. When asked whether he has ever known a competition as intense as this during his time with the first team, Alexander-Arnold replied, “No, I wouldn’t say so.”
“It is intense. It’s going to be a good season, I think everyone has got that feel for it. The way the table is looking now as well, going into the Christmas period, it’s as tight as it comes really: three teams, it’s probably something we haven’t seen over the last few years. It’s going to be intense and we know that any slip-ups will be costly.”
