Arne Slot pays tribute to Everton for Liverpool support after Diogo Jota death
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Arne Slot has paid tribute to Everton for the respect shown to a grieving Liverpool following the death of Diogo Jota.
And the Reds boss says such acts transcend the footballing rivalry in the city as the Premier League champions get set to host their neighbours in the first Merseyside derby of the new season on Saturday lunchtime.
Jota passed away in early July when he and his brother, Andre Silva, were involved in as car crash in northern Spain.
The days that followed saw Anfield become the site to mourn the passing of the popular Portugal international and his sibling, as thousands of fans from a wide variety of clubs laid their floral tributes.
Everton were one of the first to reach out, arriving at Anfield with a delegation that included Portugal-born strikers Beto and Youssef Chermiti alongside club legend Ian Snodin.
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Club captain Seamus Coleman and manager David Moyes also turned out to offer their condolences.
Slot thanked the Blues for their gestures during what was a harrowing period for the club in the immediate aftermath of the death of the much-loved Jota, saying in his Friday press conference how much that meant to those at Liverpool.
"When we faced them last season they had a very good spell and it wasn't a 'spell' because they have just kept on [playing well] and kept going with that into this season as well also," the Reds boss said.
"They have made some good signings, one of them is of course, a player on loan who was worth £100m in the past and maybe still, but someone paid £100m, and he is doing so well form them, Jack Grealish.
"So a good team and indeed, there is rivalry but what I also liked and I want to emphasize at this moment as well that what they did when Diogo passed away, coming to Anfield and being there.
"It was their captain and of course they showed their respect, sports director to sports director and all these kinds of things.
"So it is nice to see in these times that the rivalry is still there but the respect after such tragedies is also there.
"So we are looking forward to this game because every Anfield game is special but this derby is even more special."
Slot added: "It differed to other derby days, and what I like so much in England is that no matter how much the rivalry is there with Everton or Manchester United or if we're going to go Newcastle with the whole (Alexander) Isak story going on, the fans can be together.
"So when we arrived at Newcastle, I saw 10 Liverpool shirts - and I saw many Newcastle shirts by the way - and they were standing in between the Newcastle fans I saw, which is impossible in Holland.
"So that is something really special you have here and I hope you can keep this here for many years.
"Yes, there is rivalry, yes fans are so passionate for their own teams, but they respect each other as well.
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"That is the main difference because if Ajax plays Feyenoord then away fans are not allowed anymore.
"So that tells you how terrible that situation is.
And it makes it much nicer if both fans are there and that is going to continue tomorrow and I hope that is always the case for as long as football is played in England."