Jurgen Klopp provides update on Roberto Firmino injury, Jordan Henderson and Everton Game: Press Conference

Liverpool will be looking to regain their status as Premier League leaders when they make the short trip to Godison Park on Sunday to contest the 223rd edition of the Merseyside derby. Ahead of the game, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has faced the press. The game carries you When you play a good football game, you don't leave it behind you, it carries you through the week. It's a big The side will be really on their toes. It’s a big one for us and them. We try to be perfectly prepared and do the best we can. Experience in the derby It helps, but it tells you anything less than 100% and you will lose. We always have pretty good games but experience tells you, you have to be spot on and fight each fight and stay clear, stay fair and stay aggressive in the most legal way. On Firmino Firmino has been out there and running in training yesterday. He is very positive but that is Bobby’s nature. I don’t see any more of them being in contention. It looks really good but I don’t know about tomorrow. A hostile atmosphere Football players like that. In the game it’s emotional and passionate - that’s how football should be. Your against your opponent constantly and sometimes you forget to support your own team but at Goodison they support their team. But we need to use that loud atmosphere. Robertson and Trent contribution It is so important. Not many young boys want to say they want to be a full-back but they are now much more important. The game has changed now and you have to be really strong defensively but now teams clear the wings for the full-backs you have to have the football quality to put crosses in at the other end too. I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a game where someone got a hat-trick of assists. Let’s try to do something like this again. Changes in the title run in I don’t think we make changes. It’s just about the opponent and how soon you play. We try to use that and as long as the boys are really fit then that’s that otherwise, we will introduce fresh legs. It’s not written in stone for the derby but we have to see. Players reaction to sitting on the bench They accept it. I don’t think they are happy. Hendo has played a lot of games but then had a little injury, Milner, Gini, Naby have all had problems. The most important thing is just how it fits for the next opponent. If more than one thing fits then you think about who needs rest. That’s what you think about. On Henderson I know he was not happy but he was completely okay. As a player of Liverpool, you know that you don’t play all of the games and that’s a normal reaction. After the United game, I told him it was nothing to do with how he’s playing because of my reaction. On Mane's goalscoring I don’t think there has been a huge improvement, things are just becoming more natural for him. We all know he is a world-class player and he is realising that himself. With his attitude and work rate his career could be even better than it is so far. For goals you need moments and goalscoring, like the backheel, always a little bit of luck is involved. But he always has the quality, if he scores great but if not he is a proper threat and gives us space to score from another area. He will continue and develop over the next few years. Passion in the derby and red cards We always want to be very aggressive in the best football way. We are ready to hurt ourselves and not the other guy. We fight for the ball not the bone. I was not involved a lot in crazy games so for me it’s a misunderstanding. The crowd wants to win and the best way to do that is to keep 11 players on the pitch. There have been a few situations in the past where the red cards have played a factor but not recently. Everton motivation I’m not sure it’s possible to be more motivated than we were in the previous derby. I won’t celebrate like I did at Anfield again. Divock’s goal was a special moment but two days before the game is not the time to look at it. The game was tough and it will be tough again. We will analyse and see and prepare the football part of the game. Hopefully, it has a good end for us. Goals from other areas Who scores is not important. You only talk about other areas when the front three doesn’t score. Of course, you need goals from set-pieces, that’s really important, and I loved VVD’s first goal. Set pieces helped us in the beginning, it disappeared a little but hopefully, we get it back because I love scoring from set pieces. Joel Matip's form It’s been very impressive since he came into the side. Before he got injured he was outstanding, particularly against Napoli. Losing him then was the wrong moment but he is a high-class player and doing a very good job. He loves what he’s doing and it’s really nice to have him around, The centre-half couples we’ve had this season have worked really well. I’ve never had this situation with 5 centre-halfs in my life, including Nat Phillips, and now we don’t even have three. But Matip was fantastic the other night. On Everton's season It’s not my job to be concerned about their results. They have a really good team and football wise they are really good. What happened with their results I don’t know. On Mane confidence I don’t think he has any problem with confidence. He has been one of our best and most stable players and is performing at a really high level. It was nice to see a player with his quality and attitude because he really just wants to help the team. Hopefully, it continues until May 2028 or so. He will treat the game on Sunday and challenge against Gueye as a professional.

Emery, Guardiola and Solskjaer nominated for February manager of the month award