'Jürgen's team always has a good attitude - and that'll be key in the derby'

Jürgen Klopp will experience an away derby for the first time on Monday, with his side having returned to winning ways in the Premier League with an impressive 3-0 victory at Middlesbrough last Wednesday.

Evans is a man who knows a thing or two about clashes with Everton, having spent over 30 years at Anfield as a player, coach and manager.

And the Bootle-born 68-year-old has some words of advice for Klopp ahead of the current manager’s maiden trip across Stanley Park.

“You’ve got to go and play your normal game with the same mentality, but obviously because it’s a derby match everyone gets hyped up,” Evans told Liverpoolfc.com.

“The first thing you’ve got to say to your players is ‘yeah, I want you to be up for it but, at the same time, don’t do anything stupid or rash and get yourself sent off because that will make the job even harder’. 

“Obviously with the tension that’s in there, the backing from both crowds, it’s a really high atmosphere and the referees get caught into that as well so you’ve got to be careful. 

“Other than that, go and do what we’ve been doing in most of our games. We won against Middlesbrough which was great, we’ve had a couple of hiccups but go there and show again what we did there. 

“Close them down and make it difficult for them. I don’t think they’re the best defensively, they showed a little bit going forward [against Arsenal] to be fair, but at this moment in time they’ve been having a really poor spell and if you can put them on the back foot and keep their confidence from building, then you’ve got a good chance of beating them.

“I expect a game that starts manic, with people closing down. It doesn’t have the physical side to it that it used to have because you can’t get away with some of the things that went on in the games in the past! 

“But at the same time there will be a real intensity at the start and you’ve got to control yourself during that and then take control of the game. There will be different spells in the game, Liverpool will have a good spell and Everton will have a spell, so you’ve got to make sure you manage them.

“But again, it’s all about who makes the mistakes, or who creates the best chances and puts them away. 

“We’ve been maybe the best at creating chances [this season], Everton maybe they’ll get a bit of confidence from their game the other night, but having said that it’d be nice to take it off them.”

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Liverpool’s excellent win at the Riverside Stadium was preceded by a defeat to Bournemouth and a draw with West Ham United, and Evans feels their performance on Teesside proves the Reds are now back on track after a minor blip.

“If we hadn’t won that game you do maybe start thinking ‘what’s gone wrong?’” he added.

“They’ve lost those games for me, not because the way we’ve played, but because of some individual mistakes and an awful lot of chances missed, which is unusual. 

“We were still creating chances, had they not been it might have been a bit more of a worry, but if you’re creating chances and missing them then you know that sooner or later with the quality they’ve got then you will score goals. 

“I don’t think the confidence went out of the team, they just couldn’t finish teams off for two or three games and that cost us a few points, but fortunately we’re still in with a great shout.”

When asked whether he fancies Liverpool to pick up another three points at Goodison, Evans replied: “I do, but then I never look any other way! 

“I think we’re good enough to beat more or less anybody or everybody, but again it’s all about attitude. 

“That’s one thing about Jürgen Klopp’s team - they always go out with a good attitude, then [it’s about] maintaining that throughout the game and making sure you don’t make those defensive mistakes. If we can do that, we can win the game.”