Jürgen Klopp cannot wait to contest another Merseyside derby when Liverpool host Everton on Saturday, but knows his players must find a balance between control and aggression if they are to emerge victorious.

The German has led the Reds to three points in both of his meetings with the Toffees thus far - a 4-0 thrashing at Anfield last April and a last-gasp win at Goodison Park earlier this season.

Ahead of his third taste of this famous derby, Klopp has insisted he knows all about what is at stake in its 228th staging.

However, he also acknowledged that Liverpool can afford to get little wrong when they come up against an Everton side who have lost just one of their last nine outings in the Premier League.

Read on for the manager's full take on tomorrow's opposition and the fixture itself.

What makes the Merseyside derby so special?

"Two big clubs in one city, that's easy, two historical big clubs. There are not a lot of cities around the world where two clubs with this size and importance for the country are in one city and so that's special. Then only - how far is it? - 900 yards between the stadiums, that's another special thing. These are the games you are of course really looking forward to and that's what I do."

Has your understanding of this derby grown over time?

"I'm not skilled in a lot of parts in life but maybe I'm genius in understanding derbies because I didn't need a second to understand how important this game is. I played a few in my life - this is the third against Everton - I played a lot of derbies in my career and it's this moment when the world around stops for 90 minutes in a specific city or region. That's good because we all know football is not the most important thing in the world, but we love to think that in a few moments it is. In this 95/97 minutes tomorrow afternoon, it will be like this, so that's the thing and we all need to be ready and do the right things in the right moment. Be aggressive, but not too aggressive, be hard, but especially against yourself, fight for everything and try everything to make your own supporters happy."

How enjoyable have you found Merseyside derbies?

"The problem in my job is that a few things can always disturb the joy of the victory. I remember the last derby we played here, it was a fantastic game but after the game I knew Divock Origi would be out for the next few weeks or longer in a very decisive moment for the team. [It was] when Divock was maybe in the best shape of his life so far. I [enjoyed] the result but I cannot forget after the game that I knew [the injury] would hurt us much more than the three points helped us. That's sometimes the situation. The last game, it was my first time at Goodison Park, an absolutely good place to be, and I love derbies so the first away game there and you can then win it how I thought well deserved. I still can remember my colleague thought a little bit differently about the game but that's maybe normal! [They were] two good games and that's the most important [thing], and we always chose the right tools, the right weapons. We were aggressive but not too aggressive and I think that's really important because it makes no sense that you start with 11 and after a few minutes you have to carry on with 10. In both games it could have happened earlier. We know what we have to expect from this game and we have now this most important day for bringing all the different ideas from all over the world together for one common plan. The players played different systems, different whatever, [for their countries] - bring it now together for one plan for this specific game. Let's go."

Have you been impressed by Everton?

"They have a really good side and made really good transfers in summer and then in winter again. They had a fantastic start in the season and then it was maybe not that good anymore but now they are absolutely back on track. They are probably close to the place where they want to be, that's another important point of the game, we cannot ignore this. It's really important for both teams, not only because it's a derby, that there's pressure on both sides. I didn't read anything but I saw when we made the analysis that they look really confident. But I cannot imagine one reason why we shouldn't be confident too. We know we probably can play in this game and now we have to make the right decisions and play the game."