Jurgen Klopp reveals 'massive relief' after Merseyside derby win

Jurgen Klopp has labelled Liverpool’s Merseyside derby 2-0 win over Everton at Anfield as a ‘massive relief’.

The Reds recorded their first Premier League win of 2023 on Monday night, beating local rivals Everton 2-0 thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.

It was a much, much improved performance following a torrid run of form, and after the game, Klopp expressed his relief at finally winning a league game this year.

“It’s a massive relief. I didn’t want to do it but you don’t know when the next time you can,” he said of his famous touchline fist-pump. “Whatever the crowd would have asked for tonight I would have done it – apart from getting rid of my clothes, we don’t want to torture them.”

Klopp, speaking to Sky Sports, couldn’t hide his delight at finally picking up a well-deserved victory.

“I thought the performance was the best it’s been for a while,” he continued. “You take wins when you don’t play well but it’s much better when you deserve it and we deserved it.

“Atmosphere was outstanding. I’m in love with our crowd – what they did tonight was extremely helpful and the boys paid back. It was a real derby with a difficult opponent but we played the game we wanted to play not the game Everton wanted to play. We kept the ball, switching sides, staying patient, getting behind the line and I saw a real unit tonight where everyone was really fighting.

“And the goals we scored were two sensational counter attacks. Can you remember the last time we had that many options for the guy starting the counter attack? I can’t. Tonight we were there. That has to be the sign of what we have to do. We had 70 per cent of the ball and we scored two from counter attacks, that is really special.

“I really think when you are in difficult situations the way you behave defines the future. We are the club to show how to deal with difficult moments. There is nothing bad to say about how people reacted and tonight was special.”