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He is an artist, but he can be mean as well. Otherwise, you can’t reach the levels he's reaching. He works incredibly hard here in this building to get better and better and better.

"So that mentality he has inside of him and you also see that mentality when he loses the ball once or twice. He's not going to hide, he wants the third one, he wants the fourth one. In general, it's not just about Florian, we have to play three games in seven days.

"And if you've watched what we did on Sunday and what we did on Wednesday, we are trying to manage to get them all fit through these three games because it's not a present that we got to play in the beginning of the season three games in seven days.

"I know that this is an occasion that everyone at both clubs looks forward to and the date is one that the supporters will look for as soon as the fixtures come out. Having been involved in two highly competitive, contrasting Merseyside derby matches last season I fully understand why.

"The drama and the passion of both of these games underlined everything that the derby is about and it makes sense that we should expect today's encounter to be pretty similar because this is what local rivalry is always likely to bring, especially in a city like ours where football means so much no matter which club you support.

"At the same time, we should also recognise the other side of this rivalry, a side that perhaps does not get talked about given how much focus there understandably is on the drama. This side was visible once again during the summer following the tragic loss of Diogo Jota.

"In our hour of need, Everton reached out in word and in deed to demonstrate that they stood with us. David Moyes and Beto both visited Anfield to publicly pay their respects to Diogo on behalf of Everton and I am aware that others did the same privately. In addition, we received contact at various levels of the club offering support.

"I understand that this is wholly in keeping with the longstanding relationship between the two clubs and it is something that none of us should ever take for granted because it is very, very special. It is also something that, having experienced at first hand, I certainly appreciate.

"So, I welcome David, his players and staff and the officials and supporters of Everton to Anfield in the spirit of this appreciation. Yes, our teams will have another contest that we all hope will be worthy of this occasion and we will all be doing our level best to get the result we want for our clubs, but within this rivalry is a mutual respect which should always be cherished."

“That day, the day that thing happened, I was at home in Portugal. That day I would travel to Manchester to come here for the pre-season.

“I was shocked. I was shocked because Diogo was a really good guy.

“We were not friends, but you know, when you play against Portuguese players and everything, we normally stop, we speak a little bit.

“You have Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, these guys, but when I signed for Everton, he was the first guy who texted me.

“He just texted me and said: ‘I'm happy for you. I'm happy for you. If you need anything on the city, everything, I can help you, just give me a shout'.

“After every game that we play against Liverpool, we’d talk a little bit. We were not best friends, you know, but we talk a little bit, he was a really, really good guy. I’d ask: ‘how is everything?’

“It was sad. It was really sad.

“When Everton showed the interest for me to go to the stadium, I said: ‘I go, I go’, because he was a really, really nice person. Not just because he was Portuguese and we understand each other, but he was a really, really nice person, humble.

“You can see what everyone says about him, you know? It's something that is really, really sad.”

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