Liverpool vs Everton: Jurgen Klopp wary of 'completely different' Toffees under Marco Silva
Klopp is unbeaten in the Merseyside derby since his appointment in 2015, enjoying four wins and two draws
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Your support makes all the difference.Jürgen Klopp believes Liverpool must be prepared for a “proper fight” on Sunday against the strongest Everton team of his three years on Merseyside.
Klopp remains unbeaten in the Merseyside derby since his appointment at Anfield in 2015, enjoying four wins and two draws against Everton with an aggregate score of 11-3.
The Liverpool manager has come up against three different Everton managers in that time and on Sunday, Marco Silva will become the fourth.
Klopp, however, is impressed by his counterpart on the other side of Stanley Park, who has encouraged a more expansive style of play since succeeding Sam Allardyce this summer.
Everton currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, a point above Manchester United, having won five of their last seven league outings.
Meanwhile, the likes of Richarlison, Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes are settling in well and justifying another summer of ambitious spending at Goodison.
Klopp believes Liverpool’s neighbours are now the strongest they have been for some time and expects an especially tough challenge on Sunday.
“It will be a proper fight, open spaces, speed, it will be a proper football game,” Klopp said.
“It will be a fight, nothing else. It won’t be the most easy game in the world, but nobody would expect that in the derby.
“The games were always difficult in the last couple of years but the improvement of Everton is obvious. It's a completely different team, different style. It's good.”
When asked whether Silva’s side pose a greater threat to Liverpool than the Everton teams of the past, Klopp said: “Oh, yes. It may not be too nice for all the other managers but he has the best squad as well. That's how it is. They brought in players he wanted.
“Richarlison? What a player he is. Last year [Theo] Walcott came in. Bernard came in this year, Gomes came in this year, Mina came in this year. Since I'm in here Everton was always really busy but now it is the best-tuned squad, 100 per cent.
“One or two years ago they talked about [Wayne] Rooney coming back, [Gylfi] Sigurdsson coming in. Then it was said they can't play together, they have a lack of speed, but now they have everything there. Creativity, speed, good organisation.
“[Seamus] Coleman is back and fit. [Michael] Keane settled and fit, Mina is a brilliant player, very important for the build-up and everything and [Lucas] Digne is like the young [Leighton] Baines if you will.
“They are a really good team and of course there is England's No 1 [Jordan Pickford] in the goal. That's a proper squad - and it would be in all the leagues in Europe I'm 100 per cent sure, in whatever competition.”
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