Arne Slot has confirmed that he has spoken to Liverpool assistant coach John Heitinga to feed into his well of knowledge ahead of the Dutchman’s first Merseyside derby as Reds head coach. However, he isn’t expecting to obtain any inner-trade secrets from his compatriot.

Heitinga will return to Goodison Park for the first time as a Liverpool employee, having made 140 appearances during four and a half seasons with the Blues. He also spent last season working alongside his former Everton manager David Moyes at West Ham United, serving as one of the Scot’s assistant coaches.

The Dutchman is well-placed to offer insight on his former boss as a result. But Slot has already seen enough from Everton since Moyes returned to Goodison Park last month to recognise his growing impact on the Blues.

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“Of course I asked him, ‘how did you guys experience the Merseyside derby from that side?’” Slot said of Heitinga. “And I think both teams experienced it the same, like every player around the world, like I have experienced the derbies I have played in.

“Those are such important games for everyone that is involved in both clubs and yes, he worked with David Moyes so, yes, he knows how he wants to play.

“But I just watched the last three or four games, I can see the structure he had at West Ham and that he had before at United and that he had before at West Ham and that he had before at Everton.

“So he has a clear idea how he wants the team to play and that is something very positive for a manager. If you just look at his team, it doesn’t matter which shirts they wear and you just say, ‘ah, this is a David Moyes team’ or ‘this is a Pep Guardiola team’.

“And this is something he always brings and that is a great accomplishment because that is not done by every manager. You know what you get when you bring David Moyes in and that is mostly success.”

Liverpool come into the Merseyside derby off Sunday’s shock FA Cup loss to Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle. And although Slot is set to make wholesale changes against the Blues, he believes there are things his side can learn from the loss with the Dutchman expecting Everton to utilise a similar playing style.

“We can definitely take things from that game towards this one,” he said. “Because the first two chances we conceded against Plymouth were from second phases of a throw-in, corner kick.

“If you are not sharp in those moments like we were not five minutes after half-time when they had a long throw in and Harvey made the handball, these moments against teams that have that playing style - and the playing styles are a bit similar - that can hurt you.

“We will definitely take things from the Plymouth game that we need to do better.”

Having possessed a game-in-hand since the start of December, Liverpool could move nine points clear at the top of the table should they win against Everton on Wednesday.

Slot insists it is vital for the Reds to extend their advantage over second-placed Arsenal if possible, with the Dutchman well-aware that the Gunners are perfectly capable of eating into Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table.

“For me it is not about psychology,” he said. “For me it is about having nine points or six points, that is the difference, lead against teams who are able to win so many games in a row.

“So psychology, leave it out. It is just going to be crucial to have so many points as possible because the teams we face are able to win every single game in the Premier League.

“In the first half of the season, I said many times, judge the league table after 19 games but the thing is, Arsenal now played one more, but if you look at the games they already had - City, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Brighton, I think - so they have had quite a lot of teams that are doing really well.

“So that is why it is important to try to extend the lead. That is not going to be easy, obviously.”