Arne Slot is confident that “special” Mohamed Salah can help Liverpool return to winning ways in their Merseyside derby clash against Everton on Saturday.

Salah starred once again for the Reds in midweek, scoring twice and notching the assist for Curtis Jones’ goal in their enthralling 3-3 draw with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.

The Egyptian suggested his glittering spell with the club could be drawing to a close in the aftermath of last week's win over Manchester City, but Slot is confident that Salah will put that at the back of his mind ahead of this weekend’s encounter.

“It is difficult for me to predict the long-term future. The only thing I can expect or predict is he is in a very good place at the moment,” Slot said. “He plays in a very good team that provides him with good opportunities, and then he is able to do special things.

“What makes him even more special for me is before we scored for 1-1 you thought, 'He is not playing his best game today,' but then to come up with a half-hour with an assist, two goals and having a shot against the bar.

“So, that is also what makes him special, apart from if you just look at the goals. His finishing is so clinical. A special player, but that's what we all know.

“What I noticed from the start, when he came in [in pre-season was] how fit he was, how ready he was to make it a very good season for him. That he led by example from the first day onwards in pre-season. So, it's not a surprising thing for me that he's done so well until now.”

Everton, meanwhile, earned a vital victory at Goodison Park on Wednesday, thrashing fellow strugglers Wolves 4-0 to give them some breathing space from the bottom three.

The Toffees piled more pressure on Gary O’Neil with two goals in either half from Ashley Young, Orel Mangala and Craig Dawson turning into his own net twice, sealing the victory.

Manager Sean Dyche, however, called for level-headedness from his squad after earning a first Premier League win since October, with immediate refocus the priority ahead of Liverpool’s visit.

"It is an important game, they all are," Dyche said. "I don't change my tune just because we've won – they are all important games. I think the feeling of the performance was right. I think [it was a] good reaction from the weekend.

"[Tonight] we haven't made mistakes and I think we've had that real intent and desire to score goals. We mixed our performance and played well. 

"There's still things to work on, but the mentality has to stay strong here. I've been questioned many times in my life, including here, and so have some of the players, but that glue that bonds us together is really important here.

“I think the group showed again tonight with our performance. There is a glue that bonds us together. They've shown it tonight with different players coming in, some players coming out, players coming on."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Everton – Dwight McNeil

Only McNeil (three goals, three assists) has been involved in more Premier League goals for Everton this season than Ashley Young (one goal, three assists).

Along with that, the Toffees midfielder has created 33 chances in the top-flight this term, a total only bettered by Leif Davis (34), Youri Tielemans (35), Cole Palmer (36) and Bukayo Saka (38).

Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

Salah’s inspired display against Newcastle in midweek has now seen him score and assist in 37 Premier League matches, the most of any player in history.

He has netted in each of his last seven games but has never scored in eight in a row. Daniel Sturridge is the only Liverpool player to do so, achieving that feat in the 2013-14 season.

The Egyptian has also scored seven Premier League goals against Everton – only Steven Gerrard (nine) has scored more Merseyside derby goals in the competition.

MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

This weekend’s action starts in the early kick-off at Goodison Park, and while former Reds boss Jurgen Klopp moaned about the fixture, since the start of last season, Liverpool are unbeaten in all eight of their Premier League games kicking off at 12.30 on Saturday (W6 D2), including a 2-0 win against Everton.

This, however, is Slot’s first meeting with Everton as Liverpool manager. Only one Reds boss has won their first ever league Merseyside derby when that match has come away from home, with Kenny Dalglish overseeing a 3-2 victory in September 1985.

Liverpool’s 2-0 loss in this exact fixture last season ended a 12-game unbeaten away run in the Premier League against Everton (W3 D9). They’ve not lost consecutive visits to Goodison Park since a run of three between 1992 and 1994.

Everton, meanwhile, have won just four of their 47 Premier League matches against teams starting the day top of the table (D9 L34). Only Tottenham (35) have lost more games against table-topping teams in the competition than the Toffees.

Dyche has lost 12 Premier League matches against Liverpool (W3 D2), only losing more against Manchester City (14) and Arsenal (13). However, should he win this game, he’ll have more wins against the Reds (two) than the previous seven Toffees managers combined.

Everton vs Liverpool is also the fixture to have seen the most red cards (23) and been drawn 0-0 the most (12) in Premier League history. No side has scored more 90th minute winners against an opponent in the competition than Liverpool have against Everton (five).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Everton – 15.5%

Draw – 20.9%

Liverpool – 63.6%