Slot shakes off 'tired' tag as Liverpool prepare for Merseyside derby

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot feels the international break may have provided an important reset for his players.

Last month the Premier League leaders suffered consecutive defeats for the first time this season, having exited the Champions League to PSG before losing the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle.

Slot says of all the breaks, this was the one he "needed the most", and believes his players have returned refreshed and ready for the final nine matches as they try to close out a second title in five years.

"The first three (breaks) were after one or two months' work, this one was after four months of non-stop work so I like this one the most for the simple reason it was four months in a row," he said ahead of the visit of Everton for the 246th Merseyside derby.

• Slot speaks on Alexander-Arnold future after Real speculation
• Liverpool fixtures & scores | FREE Liverpool PL highlights▶️
• Got Sky? Watch Liverpool games LIVE on your phone📱
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW 📺

"It was my first experience of playing in the winter so this one I liked the most, I needed the most as well.

"The mental break (for the players) comes more from going to a different environment with different team-mates.

"For that reason it was maybe a good moment after you lose two games. If you stay at your club you have to win your next game, but if you go to your national team things are new again.

"Lucho (Luis) Diaz had two goals (for Colombia), Cody Gakpo had a goal (for Netherlands), so a few of our players showed themselves in a very good way again."

The Reds' successive losses before the international break led to suggestions Slot's team were running out of steam, but the Dutchman rejected the premise fatigue was starting to play a part in their campaign.

"If I look at the PSG game, I don't think, in the eight or nine months I've been in the job, I saw my players work as hard as they did for 120 minutes," he said.

"Maybe that was also the reason why we looked tired in the final, but maybe I don't give the right credit to Newcastle, who made it difficult for us.

"They (Liverpool players) are maybe a bit more refreshed than in a normal international break because we didn't play at the weekend.

"Most of them had a few days off as well, for the first time in months they had three, four, five days off, so that is maybe the reason why I use the word 'refreshed'."

Moyes desperate to end winless Anfield streak

Everton manager David Moyes, meanwhile, has admitted his poor record at Anfield hangs heavy and he wants to be rid of it. The Scot has never won at Liverpool in 21 attempts, drawing just seven, with the Toffees, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham.

In his second spell at Everton he would love nothing more than to end that sequence, having enjoyed a nine-match unbeaten Premier League run since taking over in January.

Asked whether the unwanted record was a weight around his neck Moyes said: "Yeah. I don't want it, I want to win and I want to make sure I get rid of it if I can.

"Am I sick of it? I would be lying if I said I look forward to going to it all the time because it has been such a hard place to get results.

"It's nothing to do with the surrounds, nothing to do with the pitch, nothing to do with anything else, it is to do with them always producing good teams. I think every team in the Premier League, when they go to Anfield, has a game on their hands.

"We might be further away from Liverpool than we have ever been at the moment. By the time I had left here maybe 10 years ago we were much closer to Liverpool, we were competitive, competing around the same areas of the league at the time. I think at the moment it is the biggest gulf between the two clubs.

"It would be huge for us as a club to get that because it is not something the club have done particularly often."

Everton snatched a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park in February courtesy of James Tarkowski's dramatic leveller deep into added time.

Watch Liverpool vs Everton on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off 8pm