Every word of Arne Slot’s press conference ahead of the Merseyside derby at Goodison

Arne Slot knows how tense derbies in the Dutch top flight can be - he’s got first-hand knowledge of the Noord-Hollandse derby and De Klassieker from his time at AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord. But on Saturday, he will gain his first experience of the Merseyside derby and this will be a particularly poignant one as it will likely be the last one to be played at Goodison.

Everton will be moving into their new home at Bramley-Moore dock next year and unless the two Merseyside clubs' paths cross further down the line in the FA Cup, this will be the final time that they meet in L4.

From the first derby held at Goodison 130 years ago (13 October 1894) to the most recent back in April this year, the stadium has witnessed 119 battles between the city’s top two clubs.

Unsurprisingly, Slot was asked how he feels to be part of such an historic moment in one of the first questions of this afternoon’s press briefing.

There has been a report this week that Virgil van Dijk has been offered a contract, what can you tell us? If anything?

What do you think the answer’s going to be? (laughs). Your boss is always telling you, that you have to ask that question! Maybe tell your boss that you always get the same manager so it’s a bit boring for people to listen to the press conference.

You’ve taken part in derbies before - Feyenoord-Sparta and De Klassieker. What are you expecting from your first Merseyside derby, particularly as it’s the last at Goodison Park potentially...

I think it’s going to be special for everyone – for all the fans that are involved, for all the players that are involved and as well for the managers. To be part of this game is already special and to be part of the last one at Goodison Park probably makes it even more special. But it’s only a nice experience if the result goes your way. That is what we are focusing on most for this game.

Would it be added satisfaction in taking three points because it’s the last one at Goodison, or is it purely just about three points because of where the team is right now...

I never speak about three points before a game. You can only talk about this after the game - especially if you face a team like Everton that have done so well in the last three or four games – three clean sheets, a very good game during the week against Wolves. We know we have to be ready for a tough game against a good side, against a well-managed side as well and so probably the fans will be loud – I would say maybe just as loud as the Newcastle ones, probably these ones are going to be louder. We have to be prepared for everything for this game.

Just in terms of who you might get back, is Alisson ready? And how’s Caoimhin? He’s got credit for how he’s played this season.

Definitely. It was on 1-0 where Joe Gomez made a mistake, they could have made it 2-0 but he saved it. So he saved us in that moment - maybe saved us a point because if we had gone 2-0 down, you never know what could have happened afterwards but things would have been even harder for us. Unfortunately for Caoimhin, and that is the position he is in, if you make a mistake as a goalkeeper or you make a misjudgment, it’s very difficult for someone else to cover it up for you. He’s done that a few times for us, when others have made mistakes he’s always there to help us. Unfortunately we as a team were not able to help him if he misjudges a ball because he is our last player. I think he’s in a good place although he was disappointed like all the others because we dropped points from a winning situation, one minute before the end. But he can go into this game with a lot of confidence.

Alisson is not ready yet but he will be ready very soon.

Going into this derby, you’ve got a lot of experienced players who know what it’s all about. To what extent do you lean on them ahead of a game like this?

Not particularly because they’ve played these games but as a manager you always lean on your players because you can make a great gameplan or great game idea. But it always depends on the players - if they are ready to work very hard and to play at their best. So you always lean on your players - not only away at Everton but in every game you play.

What do you know about the Merseyside derby? What have the people around here told you about it?

People told me about it but I think the main thing I have to know about it is their playing style, what we can expect. You need to be aggressive if you go over there because they will be aggressive as well. But you have to be aggressive in a smart way. Because last season we were very aggressive when we went out there – because I watched the game yesterday – and after half an hour I was a bit surprised because Liverpool had the ball most of the time but there were 10 fouls made by the Liverpool players and only one by an Everton player... So, we have to be aggressive but in a smart way - especially because they are a big threat in set-pieces as well. So every time we give away an unnecessary free-kick, that is not smart. So yes, be aggressive but in a concentrated and smart way.

Given what you have just said, how do you approach this game? How do you set your team up and send them out?

I think we want to be aggressive, on the front foot in every game we play. That’s not going to be different now but we always make a gameplan where we try to adjust to threats the other team has and where we think we can hurt them. That’s the way we will look at this game as well. Every game, if want to have a chance to win, you need to be very aggressive and you have to run a lot. And that is one of their strengths as well. They are a very, very hard-working team. If you want to talk about tactics, first you have to match their work rate. We have showed that we can do that. We work really hard as well and we will need that more going to Everton because their fans will be encouraging them to work even harder.

Everton have got form for targeting goalkeepers who they perceive to be weak from set-pieces. Do you think that given the nature of the third goal on Wednesday, are you expecting some of the same from Everton tomorrow?

I don’t think Everton is the only team who tries to block a goalkeeper or block the best header. Five, six, seven years ago, nobody spoke that much about set-pieces and here we are today and almost everyone is talking about set-pieces and the importance of set-pieces. Everton is definitely a team that can score from set-pieces. But we have some players who can score from a set-piece as well so we are focused on the ones we have to defend but also the ones we can get. In the big games, against City, Arsenal, Chelsea and all the others - one of the main things in those games are set-pieces and the Merseyside derby is a big game so set-pieces will be a big part of that as well.

With Storm Darragh brewing, we could be in for extreme weather on Saturday, winds of 65 mph are forecast. Is that much of a consideration for you?

Not at the moment. But it’s always something you have to take into consideration - I’m not talking about the line-up but the execution of actions by the players. Having the wind behind you or not can influence on certain actions you have to make. If it is like that, we’ll take it into account but we take many things into account before we start a game.

Trent made an impact when he came on against Newcastle. Can you explain how he changes the dynamic of the team?

First of all I think Jarrell [Quansah] played quite a good game. From what I’ve been told, not everyone agrees with me, but if you just look back at the game then you see that in his 1-vs-1s he had no problems. In the few times Anthony Gordon was a threat, he was not involved in those moments. But if Conor [Bradley] is available, I think he’s a similar type to Trent when he plays as a right full-back - he’s also someone who tries to attack the goal, wants to make underlaps and overlaps, like you saw against Real Madrid, for example, when he almost scored.

But if we play with Jarrell, he’s a different type of player, he’s then more the way Ben White maybe fills that position: a bit more behind the ball, playing the ball through the lines, instead of underlapping, overlapping all the time. That makes a difference if Jarell or Trent plays there, but there is not that much of a difference if Conor or Trent plays there. Trent and Conor have had a big impact on our offensive game if they play, that’s for sure.

Mac Alister is suspended for this game. On the plus side, your available midfielders have all had game time so you’ve got options to replace him.

That’s the good thing. The downside to it is that I think that these players hardly make any fouls but already Ryan [Gravenberch] is one card away from being suspended so that is something for us to be aware of - how that is possible because we hardly make any fouls. The Mac Alister one at Newcastle... you could argue, if you saw all the decisions, would it be right that he got a yellow for that? But you know during a season that players will be suspended and it’s always in moments when you feel, ‘Ah, we could have used him...’ But the good thing for us is that we’ve got the main four midfielders that have played, with Dom, Curtis, Ryan and Macca. One of them is not available at the moment but we still have three left and Harvey Elliott is on his way back so that line is not our main worry. We have three out injured - Diogo, Federico and Alisson are close to being back which leaves only Ibou, Conor and Kostas a bit further away from playing time.