By Irishexaminer.com,Lori Ewing

Copyright irishexaminer

“We just have to see how they all feel,” Slot said. “All I know is Alex probably felt his body more than ever before after the 60 minutes he played, so let’s see how he recovered today, then we will see about the lineup later today and you will see tomorrow.”

Slot also addressed the possibility of pairing Isak with close-season signing Hugo Ekitike up front, a combination that could offer the champions a new attacking dimension.

“If both of them are in the best form of their life then you consider more to play them together,” Slot said. “It’s quite clear that we have a certain structure of 4-3-3, but the amount of times … where we have ended the game with two nines has happened a lot as well.”

Slot knows the derby atmosphere will be electric, but said the respect Everton showed after the death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car accident in July adds another emotional layer to the match.

Everton striker Beto, who was born in Lisbon, and the club’s former Portuguese player Youssef Chermiti, now at Rangers, were among the Toffees who visited Anfield to pay their respects in the days immediately following Portugal striker Jota’s death.

“They are a good team and there is rivalry but what I also liked and what I want to emphasise is what they did when Diogo passed away, coming to Anfield,” Slot said.

“It’s so nice to see that in tragedies the rivalry is still there but the respect to both is still there.”

Everton boss David Moyes said taking on Liverpool had always been a difficult task for him, but he is aware the defending champions have shown vulnerabilities, despite being the only Premier League side with a 100% start.

Moyes, who has won only six of the 44 matches he has faced against Liverpool in his managerial career, said the visit to Anfield would help gauge Everton’s quality after his team picked up seven points in their first four league matches.

“As much as Liverpool have shown at different times where they have been very good … other times they have shown some vulnerability when they have conceded goals,” Moyes said.

“We will have to try and take advantage of those moments as well. We played them last year at Anfield and lost to an offside goal and we want to try and run them close again and maybe this time things will go in our favour.”

Moyes was asked if he enjoyed derby matches.

“I think I’d be lying if I said yes. It’s much easier if you are the team who have the strongest squad,” he added.

“We are up against it and we have to go there and fight for everything we can.

“It’s having a realism of where the games are and where the clubs are. I need to try to shorten the gulf between the two clubs.

“At the moment Liverpool are champions, probably favourites or second favourites for the Champions League, and we are not.

“We are Everton, who have just come out of three or four difficult seasons and are trying to rebuild. Trying to bridge that gap is quite difficult to do.”

Moyes cautioned against the threat of late goals from Liverpool, who clinched victory with late strikes in all four of their league matches as well as in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

“The better sides tend to sort of wear you down a little bit and concentration changes … we’ve shown resilience in defence so we’ll be looking to maintain that,” the Scot said.

“It was the same with (former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson), he used to be getting Fergie time … I see that as the same with Liverpool.”

As regards their vulnerabiities, Slot accepts Liverpool have made life difficult for themselves by failing to close out strong positions.

“We’ve only played five games so it’s difficult to see something for the long term in it.

“We’ve given away 2-0 leads three times and it’s completely different how we gave away the goals. Bournemouth was counter-attacks, I don’t think Atletico scored counter-attacking goals.

“It’s not ideal to have a 2-0 lead and give it away so we have to improve but the positive thing is if we feel the urgency again we are able to score a goal.

“This is definitely something we talk about, the 2-0 lead, because you can run out of energy at the end of the season if every game mentally and physically you have to go all the way to the end to win a game of football.

“It’s never a good idea to keep on doing it but if we need it I still hope we can do it.”

Slot denied his players were switching off when two goals clear, instead suggesting their desire to score more was contributing.

“We got criticised when we were 2-0 up against Bournemouth we were still attacking with 12 players in their box,” he joked.

“It was the same against Atletico Madrid, we created so many chances compared to other games this season so we were not trying to keep the lead, we were trying to make it 3-0 or 3-1.

“Maybe we should, in some moments, be a bit more composed or calm but I like that mentality we have.”

Moyes is not envious of Liverpool’s huge summer transfer business but pointed out they spent more on one player than Everton have invested in their squad in the last two seasons.

Isak’s €143m arrival broke the British transfer record and took the outlay at Anfield this summer past €500m. By contrast, Everton spent about €70m.

“You have to earn the right to (spend money). First of all you have to win and be in the big competitions which make the money,” said Moyes.

“I found at West Ham three years in Europe allowed us to spend money and bring money in.

“From that point of view I think Liverpool are entitled to do it. I heard Arne defending himself saying he’s brought in a lot of money as well.

“But I still think they’ve spent more on one player than we have on the whole squad.”