Jurgen Klopp has suggested that Abdoulaye Doucoure is in his prime for Everton right now.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Liverpool boss claimed that Doucoure is ‘back to his best’ and went onto praise a number of Everton players.
The midfielder joined the Toffees from Watford in a £20 million deal three years ago and was a key player for the club prior to Frank Lampard‘s arrival.
However, Doucoure fell out of favour under the 45-year-old and looked set to leave Merseyside once his contract expired in the summer.
Instead, Lampard was eventually sacked for Everton’s poor form and Doucoure was brought back into the picture by Sean Dyche.
The Mali international went onto score the all-important goal to keep Everton up on the final day of the campaign, as well as committing another year of his career to the Toffees.
Doucoure has since repaid Dyche’s faith in him with a stellar start to the season, scoring three goals in the last five matches in the Premier League.
Despite Everton’s position in the table, Klopp has recognised Doucoure’s quality and also appreciated the ‘real talent’ elsewhere in the squad.
“Everton deserve respect,” the German told the media. “Doucoure looks back to his best.
“With [Jack] Harrison and [Dwight] McNeil on the wings, that’s real quality. [Amadou] Onana, [James] Garner. Talent, real talent. With [Jarrad] Branthwaite now too, a really good centre half. So that’s a really good team.
“I understand ‘the derby’, but I can’t prepare a one -off game. We have to play our best.”
Can Abdoulaye Doucoure earn Everton a big result?
With the likes of Dominic Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister really impressing for Liverpool this season, it is vital that Everton’s midfielders are on form.
While Sean Dyche has struggled to find his favoured trio in the middle of the park, both Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Garner have pretty much cemented their positions in the starting line-up.
Both of them have been immense so far and will be very important in whatever Everton manage to do at Anfield tomorrow.
While attackers such as Dominic Calv lolert-Lewin and Jack Harrison will be ready to pounce if Everton can create any chances, Doucoure will certainly be one to watch and Liverpool will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on him.
