Klopp: Pressure on Everton with testing schedule

Scott Anderson
Jurgen Klopp: Merseyside derby is "about football"

Jurgen Klopp: Merseyside derby is "about football"

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp turned up the pressure on Everton ahead of the 226th Merseyside derby by questioning whether they can handle the demands of success at the end of a season.

The Toffees head to Anfield, where they have not won since 1999, with one eye on Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley.

This fixture was moved from its original weekend because of Liverpool’s involvement in the Capital One Cup final but, with FA Cup replays and a run to the Europa League last four, Klopp’s side have been playing twice a week almost all season.

Everton’s progress in the FA Cup has also seen them require a midweek fixture at Crystal Palace last week, and with a crucial weekend semi-final for Roberto Martinez coming up, Klopp says he is unsure how they will handle this game.

“I know all about Everton and have met a lot of people and it’s a big and very successful club in the past, but I don’t know exactly what the situation is exactly there with the semi-final coming up,” he said.

“They are not used to, at the end of the season, playing two games a week too often.

“Last week they had this situation, this week they have this situation, at the end of these two weeks it is a pretty important game for them.

“But I don’t know too much about them so we should think only about our game, our line-up and understand our situation in the table.”

Klopp has warned his players to keep a lid on their emotions, however.

“It is not like the last thing I will say is ‘kick them out of the stadium’. Of course not. It is about football,” he added.