Everton manager David Moyes believes this weekend's Merseyside derby will be as feisty as ever.
Toffees boss plays down talk of tough tackles
Everton manager David Moyes believes this weekend's Merseyside derby will be as feisty as ever.
Liverpool travel to Goodison Park on Sunday after a dramatic week, following numerous court hearings involving the club both in London and USA.
With new owner John W Henry finally taking control of the Anfield outfit on Friday, wrestling power off American pair Tom Hicks and George Gillett, it is a welcome return to matters on the pitch against their local rivals this weekend.
Everton and Liverpool have made similarly poor starts to the Premier League campaign, with the two sides only managing six points from seven games.
It is all set up for an intriguing encounter at Goodison, and Toffees boss Moyes says it will be a typical derby clash.
"I don't see why this one would be more than any other game. Maybe it is because tackling has been debated a bit at the moment," he said.
"It shouldn't put any more focus on the game because if it does it would probably ruin the spectacle.
Tough tackles
"Parts of derbies are the challenges, sometimes not so good challenges. That is the way it always has been. It is always a feisty occasion.
"We don't want the bad tackles but this is why people talk about the derby and are excited about it. What they expect from managers and players is a bit of commitment.
"We don't want to see bad injuries but we don't want to stop tackling. I wouldn't want to manage teams that couldn't tackle.
"I think the games are feisty but I would quite enjoy that."
On Everton's slow start to the campaign so far, he added: "We are all disappointed we have not got the results we thought we would have, but they have played with confidence throughout and never lost the belief.
"I think we have got a lot of belief it will all come good before the end of the season."
