Reds midfielder Adam Lallana has stated that Liverpool always expects to beat local rivals, Everton, in the FA Cup, despite Jurgen Klopp fielding a youthful and inexperienced side against the Toffees.
18-year-old winger Curtis Jones’ stunner continued Liverpool’s dominance of the Merseyside derby this Sunday, as Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at Anfield.
Jones was one of a number of youth players who started for Liverpool, as Klopp decided to rest most of his first-team squad including the likes of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson.
Veteran midfielder James Milner went off injured early on, and his fellow English compatriot Adam Lallana took over as captain and led from the front. However, the 32-year-old insisted that the Reds never lacked belief that they would beat Everton, who have not won at Anfield since 21 years dating back to 1999.
Lallana spoke to the club’s official website and admitted that it was a great win but took a sly dig at Liverpool’s fierce and local neighbors, “It was good but we expected to win. We said before the game that no matter what teamsheet we had, we’re at home, we expect to win, I think it was important that we went out there with that mentality because it’s such a fortress, Anfield, and the young lads are around us experienced players day in, day out in training and it’s why the level is so high because in training we give them good games, we keep them on their toes and I think that absolutely showed out there.”
He further explained that Liverpool’s mentality has helped the players get through tough games, “It’s the mentality that is instilled throughout Liverpool and that started when the manager came in. He wanted to create his own way of playing; his own mentality and you saw that throughout the whole 90 minutes.”
