Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet is desperate to maintain his strong Merseyside derby record at Anfield ahead of the two teams clashing on Saturday.

The Belgium shot stopper can currently boast an unbeaten home record in games between Liverpool and Everton, having earned seven points out of a possible nine in his three games.

In fact, since joining the club he has only conceded the one derby goal as a result of a thunderous strike from Phil Jagielka back in 2014.

(Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

And, ahead of the 228^th meeting of the two sides, Mignolet was relishing the chance to take part in another memorable match.

“It is pretty special,” he said.

“In the time I’ve been here, we’ve always had great results against Everton at home. The fans are up for it. It’s always a big fixture to look forward to. On the day itself, it’s nice to be part of it.

“It’s always a bit hostile, but like in any other derby game that’s something you relish – two groups of fans who are cheering their team on.

“It’s a bit special, of course, in Liverpool because in some families you have got both Everton and Liverpool supporters.

“Although it’s a derby, I don’t think there is so much hatred between the two clubs. Everybody wants to win and everybody is cheering their team on, but it’s still in a fair way.”

M’Baye Niang insists the Premier League suits him down to the ground and the Watford striker hopes he can start to fulfil his potential on the big stage.

The 22-year-old, on loan from AC Milan, has seen his career stall somewhat after a promising start that saw him sign terms and score at the San Siro all before his 18^th birthday.

But after falling out of favour under Vincenzo Montella, Niang joined Watford in January on loan.

He scored on his home debut against Burnley but both his and the club’s form has taken a down swing in recent months and they currently sit 16^th, seven points clear of the drop zone.

His future with the Hornets is unclear but the youngster is adamant however, that the Premier League is where he belongs.

“It’s a style of football that I adore,” Niang said.

“You need to be strong to do well here, and I have that. I’m all about strength, pace, skill, taking people on.

(Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)

“It’s still early to say I feel ‘at home’ here, I’ve only just arrived, but I’d like to stay in England,

“I’m learning the language and working. Working. I can do that freely here, enjoying my football, playing regularly, learning.

“I know I was at Milan, but sometimes you have to take a step down to come back stronger.”

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas admits he used to relish beating the Blues more than any other side, but now that honour belongs to Premier League rivals Spurs.

As an Arsenal and Barcelona player, the 29-year-old Spain international locked horns with his current employers on many occasions, regularly coming out on both sides of the result.

But now he wears the blue jersey, Fabregas revealed he will always get his greatest satisfaction from beating Tottenham – currently second beyond the south-west Londoners in the Premier League standings.

“Chelsea used to be the team I enjoyed beating the most! Now, there will always be something against Spurs,” he said.

“From my time at Arsenal, now my time at Chelsea, obviously it’s a team that has always been a rival of mine.

“So inside, I will always have an especially good feeling when we beat them.”

Fabregas has not had the game time he will have wanted this term, being used primarily as an impact substitute in the second half of matches by manager Antonio Conte.

But he has featured in 25 of Chelsea’s 35 matches so far this season, and insists he is happy working under the Italian.

He added: “I think at the beginning, when we all saw the methods that he worked on and stuff, we thought, ‘wow, this is very hard.’

“At the time, we thought he might have been a little bit too demanding, but it really paid off as he put everyone into shape very quickly, and we were training our tactics every single day.

“Maybe we didn’t do that so much before with Jose [Mourinho], so every day we are repeating what [Conte] wants and it’s a big compliment for him that we have been able to achieve what we have done so fast.”

The departure of Jonas Olsson has opened up a spot in central defence for West Brom and Craig Dawson thinks he is the man to fill the void.

Dawson has been a virtual ever-present at right back for the Baggies this campaign as they have surprised many players and pundits alike in their rise to eighth in the table.

Olsson last week returned to his native Sweden after a nine-year spell at the Hawthorns and while Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley are both staying there is room for another.

And Dawson has already told Pulis that he sees himself as the man to become central to the Baggies defence.

“We have spoken about it, but at the moment I’m doing a job for the team at right back,” said Dawson.

“It’s been a great learning curve and I’ve learned on the job. I’ve enjoyed playing so many games and learning from those experiences.

(Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

“But it’s my more natural position being inside and hopefully I can get a good run in the team at centre-half.

“That’s the aim, to move back inside. I had a little run in the side (at centre-back) and we had some good results. That’s the plan for me.”

Stoke City could splash the cash again this summer after chief executive Tony Scholes teased that the club’s transfer record might be smashed.

The Potters shelled out £18m in January 2016 for midfield flop Giannelli Imbula but manager Mark Hughes has not been put off from throwing his weight around in the transfer market – snapping up Joe Allen and Saido Berahino for a combined £28m this season.

Stoke initially became more frugal when Hughes arrived in 2013 – opting to sniff out bargains like £2m striker Marko Arnautovic after several seasons of big fees for mediocre players under former boss Tony Pulis.

But with the Premier League now awash with more cash than ever, Stoke have started to revert to their old ways and Scholes is tempted for another big move this summer.

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Central defender Bruno Martins Indi is expected to complete a permanent move for about £10m after an impressive loan spell but Scholes says that may not be their biggest move.

“If the right player came along, we are always looking at opportunities,” he said.

“However, I don’t think you can be having record signings every transfer window.

“And if you look over the last three or four, we’ve done a big signing in each window.

“There was Saido in January, Joe Allen last summer, the previous January there was Giannelli and Xherdan Shaqiri the summer before.

“But we are always looking at the opportunities on how we can improve on what we’ve got.”

Burnley skipper Tom Heaton believes the Clarets’ clear playing style has helped their cause in the Premier League this season.

After Sean Dyche dabbled with a three-man midfield earlier in the season, he has reverted to the 4-4-2 which has served them so well in the past.

Burnley sit 13th in the Premier League – eight points clear of the relegation zone – ahead of their clash with second-placed Spurs at Turf Moor on Saturday.

And Heaton believes the clarity of their style makes match-preparation easier as they look to secure a second successive season in the top flight for the first time since 1974/75.

(Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

“Everyone in the squad knows the role and what we’re doing, injuries, suspensions, illness, whatever it is, whoever comes in knows what we’re trying to achieve,” said Heaton.

“We have a healthy respect for the opposition but we don’t get too sucked in, we try and keep the focus on us and it does help.

“It comes down from the manager that. He sets the stall out.

“We tweak it tactically slightly for different sides, but the general theme stays the same, our style of playing, he sets that really.

“A yo-yo club for me is too strong, I think we’re trying to establish ourselves as a Premier League outfit and that’s the challenge at the moment.”

George Honeyman may have hardly featured this season but the boyhood Sunderland fan is ready to give his all in the Black Cats’ fight to survive at the bottom of the Premier League.

Honeyman has made just four appearances so far, but manager David Moyes is clearly a fan of the 22-year-old having kept him around the first team all season.

Sunderland have suffered a lacklustre campaign, and relegation appears likely as they sit bottom of the Premier League table – seven points from safety.

This weekend they travel to Watford in search of their first win in five games, and Honeyman is desperate to be given a chance wherever it is on the pitch.

Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

With just ten league games to go, Moyes may want to see more desire and passion from his team – and Honeyman guarantees that is what he will bring as he tries to stop the club from sliding into the Championship.

“I just want to be on the pitch playing so that’s the most important thing,” he said.

“I enjoy playing as part of that three in midfield, but to be honest if the manager sticks me at left-back, I’d give it my all for this football club and I would love just being on the pitch.

“It means absolutely everything to me.

“I have been at this club since I was 11-years-old and just being in and around this team is all I have ever wanted and now for me I just want to get back in the team if I can and start as many games.”

Ryan Fraser is enjoying a breakout Premier League season, but the Bournemouth winger admits he had to do something this term or risk being shipped out.

Having joined the Cherries in January 2013 for just £400,000 from Aberdeen, Fraser started just six games as Bournemouth won the Championship in 2015.

And as Eddie Howe navigated Premier League survival in their first Premier League season Fraser was out on loan with Ipswich.

But this season the 23-year-old has starred in a Bournemouth shirt, netting three times – including in wins against Liverpool and Swansea – as well as turning in a series of eye-catching displays in his maiden campaign in the top flight.

That saw him called up for Scotland’s double header during this international break, only for a swollen knee to curtail his chances of earning his first full cap.

Eddie Howe

However, Fraser is simply loving life at Bournemouth with the fears of being sent away from the Vitality Stadium well and truly behind him.

“If it hadn’t happened for me this season then I think the gaffer might have said ‘that was it’. I have been here four years and had my ups and downs,” Fraser said.

“I played lots of games in the first year in the Championship but didn’t play many in the second. The loan at Ipswich helped me massively.

“But if I hadn’t made an impression this season, I would only have had a year left on my contract and, you never know, they might have tried to sell me. I don’t know, I didn’t ask.

“It was make or break for me and, luckily, I got my chance and have been rewarded with another contract.”

If you had to pick one place where Alexis Sanchez had learnt his trade, then a Chilean jail would not necessarily be at the very top of your list.

But, for a man who has played in the Nou Camp and Old Trafford, the Allianz Arena and the Emirates, you couldn’t be closer to the truth.

Such was his desperation to take to the field, Sanchez took football in any form he could get it back in his formative years, a determination he is now revelling in as one of the leading lights of the Premier League.

(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images)

But as well as missing out on the luscious grass, the 28-year-old also often found himself between the sticks more often than getting a chance to fire in the goals at the other end.

“I wanted to be a professional footballer from when I was small,” he said.

“My mental approach was always to win and to go as far as possible playing football.

“I was always playing in tournaments and initially I played in goal. I was happy as long as I was playing football. I played with older people all the time – many of whom I really liked.

“[I played] in the street, but we also used to go to the local jail to play. We played with the people there on a dirt pitch, and I played in goal.”

Brian Lenihan is determined to repay Hull City for their faith and patience in him as he aims to put his injury nightmare behind him.

Lenihan moved to the Tigers from Cork City in August 2014 but repeated setbacks have seen him spend the majority of time on the sidelines.

In November 2014 he moved on loan to then-Championship side Blackpool before picking up a season-ending knee injury shortly afterwards.

(Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

A senior Tigers appearance finally arrived in April last year but knee surgery last summer meant a delayed start to the current campaign before complications further tested the 22-year-old’s patience.

Lenihan was finally back in action for the under-23s on Monday night, completing 45 minutes, and he is determined to push on for the rest of the season.

“I felt like a kid at Christmas to be back out there,” he said.

“The medical staff here have gone above and beyond for me and I’ve worked so hard to get back from this knee injury which has caused me the most trouble.

“I feel ready now and I feel strong. I just felt so happy to be out on the pitch again.

“It does feel a little bit like deja vu because I think this is the fourth or fifth time here that this has been my first game back after a long injury, but I know that this time I am right and I need to push on now.

“The aim now is to play in every single game that I possibly can to get minutes under my belt and to train hard with the squad every day.

“Obviously things haven’t gone well for me here so far, but I have learnt a lot and it is all part of a football education. It has been a difficult time and I’m lucky to be back. Now there are a lot of people here that I need to repay by getting back out onto the pitch and I feel physically ready to do that.”