Everton hoping to dent Liverpool’s title chances, says Michael Keane
The Reds will miss the opportunity to return to the top of the Premier League if they fail to beat the Toffees at Goodison Park
EVERTON defender Michael Keane admitted he would be delighted if he could damage Liverpool's title bid with a win in the Merseyside derby on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp's side currently sit two points behind Manchester City but will return to the summit with a win at Goodison Park.
Speaking to ahead of the match, Keane insisted he remains focused on helping the Toffees secure seventh and a Europa League spot for next season.
However, the England international also revealed he was relishing the prospect of defeating Everton's local rivals.
He said: "We're chasing seventh place ourselves, but in the back of our heads, if we can take points off Liverpool and get a win, that will dent their title chances which is great. That should make the fans happy.
"We want to put in a performance and we want to win the game, and we want the fans to be happy. If that's what they want, then that's what we want."
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Everton currently sit ninth in the Premier League table, seven points adrift of seventh place Wolves and three positions worse off before the reverse fixture at Anfield.
Since Divock Origi's bizarre 96th-minute winner at the start of December, the Toffees have managed to string together just three league wins.
Keane added: "Seventh is still within our grasp, definitely. We know we've got the players capable of getting there, and we know we can put in the performances needed.
"It's just a case of being able to do it consistently, which we haven't done for the last three months, so we're going to have to change and we're going to have to improve.
"Hopefully, we can do that and find ourselves there come the end of the season."