Everton press conference notes - Sean Dyche addresses Jurgen Klopp row, Liverpool form and rising Blues star

Everton manager Sean Dyche will be looking to inspire the club to their first win at Anfield in front of fans since 1999 as the Blues head across Stanley Park on Saturday.

The 243^rd Merseyside Derby kicks off at 12:30pm and Dyche was quizzed on all the hot topics around Everton on Thursday afternoon in his pre-match press conference at their Finch Farm training base in Halewood. Here’s a selection of some of the key lines to come from his briefing...

So close but yet so far

Despite only being less than a mile from their home ground Goodison Park, a 2-0 win behind closed doors in February 2021 remains Everton’s only derby triumph at Anfield this century and it’s a statistic Dyche is well aware of.

He said: “Well their (Liverpool’s) record is very strong, they’re a very good outfit, we know that. Our record needs changing there, we know that.

“It’s been a long time with not many wins. But it’s a tough place to go and I don’t think we’ll be listening to the noise around it, we’re trying not to anyway, but there is a lot of noise, rightly so.

“It’s a big game but it’s more about our focus to get through that and concentrate on our performance because generally I think they’ve been strong but we are taking on a top side.”

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Key men

Everton’s number nine Dominic Calvert-Lewin has already scored more goals in the current campaign (three) than he did in the whole of last season (two) and Dyche is determined to keep his centre-forward, who has been plagued by injuries these past couple of years, fit and firing.

He said: “I don’t know about crucial (to the