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It’s Merseyside derby weekend and on Saturday night I’ll be appearing at the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool with my old derby-day rival Bruce Grobbelaar. Bruce has a different perspective on football and it’s always interesting to listen to him when he talks. He’s been through a war which must give you a different sense of what’s important and what’s not important.

I do think he was vastly underrated as a keeper. The thing with Bruce was he made 1,000 decisions a match, more than anyone else, and if you’re making 1,000 decisions they’re not always going to be the right ones. He took more chances – or calculated risks – than any other goalkeeper. He was flamboyant, which meant people tended not to examine what he did – he was always about being proactive, he had a really good mind and he saw things really early.

Exclusive: Manchester United target Jordan Pickford and Jan Oblak as David De Gea transfer to PSG nears

I’ve heard some people say the Everton and Liverpool have their best goalkeepers since Bruce and I were playing. I hope so. There’s been a lot written about Jordan Pickford and how good he is, and he’s really good. There’s only one thing that can make him great, though, and that’s going to be time. Time makes you great. He is proving week in, week out he’s a very good goalkeeper, and if he does it for the next 10 seasons he will be right up there.

As for Alisson Becker, he looks big, he looks solid but he needs time to settle. He’s taken a couple of chances in games and been caught out but he’s helped by the fact Liverpool’s defence has got so much better as well. He’s definitely different from the other two they had. Loris Karius was really slow when he first came into the team – he made mistakes because he was so slow in what he was doing, and it took him a while to get used to the pace of the game. Funnily enough, in the Champions League final I thought he was trying to move the ball too quickly and it caught him out. I felt sorry for him. I thought Simon Mignolet was half-decent but if he hadn’t done anything for a while he’d go chasing stuff to do and you can’t do that.

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Everton haven’t won at Anfield this century but there’s no point in them going there thinking they’ve got no chance. In the past they’ve gone with the attitude of “Let’s get the game out of the way and move on to the rest of the season”.

Well, if they’re going to do anything and stay in that top six, everyone wants to see an Everton team go there and have a right go.

Looking at Marco Silva, I like the fact he’s brought young kids in and brought the average age down. He’s trimmed the squad, and has been pretty decisive in who he wants and doesn’t want. He hasn’t been afraid to leave people out and he’s got people playing with the right attitude. I do think they can catch Liverpool on the break as they’ve now got pace and power.

They might have beaten Chelsea away as with pace and power you’ve always got a chance. They’ve got a decent defence too, with Michael Keane playing exceptionally well again, and they’ve done alright for goals, though I do think maybe they’re missing an established striker.

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Tottenham Hotspur winger Lucas Moura admits he had the “worst seven months” of his life playing for Unai Emery and believes he is now proving to his former manager that he can be a key player at a top club.

Moura, 26, had been at Paris Saint-Germain for two-and-a-half years before Emery, now Arsenal manager, joined the French club and while he played in the first of the Spaniard’s two seasons he was ostracised in the second, before escaping in a £25million transfer to Spurs.

The Brazilian claims that, despite winning several major trophies during his time in Paris, when he fell out of favour with Emery he would sometimes not even be included in first-team training, forcing him to return home.

Gift of life

“It was very hard, the worst seven months of my life,” he told ESPN Brazil. “I came from a very good season, I was second top scorer of the team, only behind [Edinson] Cavani.

“The following season, I wasn’t even called up. I used to go to practice, I wasn’t even in the game. I used to go back home. Anyway, it was very difficult. But I kept working hard, strong. And God gave me the best gift of life, my son.”

Moura will play against an Emery side for the first time since that harrowing experience when Spurs take on Arsenal on Sunday in the north London derby. He believes that such a heated meeting with much to play for is an opportunity for him to prove to his former boss that he was wrong to drop him. Fifth-place Arsenal are three points behind Tottenham, who are third, presenting Mauricio Pochettino’s side the opportunity to pull well clear of their rivals at the Emirates Stadium.

Proving Emery wrong

“I try to show it, him, at Spurs,” Moura told UK reporters. “To enjoy the life because I love to play football. I forget the last five or six months that I had at PSG. And I like to think about the four years when I was very happy there and I won a lot of trophies. The last year was to learn and to grow up. Now I think I am a player more experienced and more strong.”

To this day, Moura claims to have no idea why he was shunned by Emery, why he was made to endure the toughest spell of his career, during which the birth of his son was his only salvation. Yet while wanting to remain respectful of Arsenal’s manager, it is clearly a period of his career which he was frustrated by and is keen to forget.

“Sometimes it happens,” he said. “It’s something we cannot explain – why it happens. I cannot explain to you. I don’t know why. But now I am happy here. I did five years at PSG in which I won a lot of trophies, I was very happy there and now I think it’s a new chapter in my life, a new challenge. The most important thing is that I am happy here.

“I need to respect the decision of the coach [Emery]. I know that it’s difficult for him because he needs to choose 11 players to play. I don’t like to look behind. I like to look forward to what I can do, what I can win. I have nothing against Unai, I respect him, he is a very good coach.

Spurs can win the Premier League

“[Now] I am in a big club and I play with big players. I am so happy here. I really believe in this club. I really believe that we can win the Premier League, we can win trophies this season. I am here to help and to make history. We need to work and to believe always.

“I am learning a lot of things for my life and for my history to play here. It’s a very good experience and, like I said, the most important is that I am happy with my new club, with my teammates. I can enjoy the football. I play against big clubs, I play Champions League so I don’t have nothing to complain about. I just need to enjoy it.”

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Manchester United have have triggered the one-year extension option in David De Gea’s contract to avoid allowing him to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club in January which would have allowed him join them on a free transfer next summer.

United are beginning to make plans for when De Gea leaves and have identified several possible replacements, including England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, as revealed by i on Wednesday. Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak is being considered, while Real Madrid’s Keylor Navas is also an option as he has fallen behind Thibaut Courtois at the La Liga club.

Read more: Manchester United target Jordan Pickford and Jan Oblak as David De Gea transfer to PSG nears

But with De Gea, 28, interested in exploring his options away from United, with Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus two clubs who would like to sign him, United have extended his deal, which was set to end in June, by another 12 months so they do not lose him without receiving a decent fee.

Analysis

By Sam Cunningham, i football correspondent

Manchester United triggering the one-year option in De Gea’s contract does little to change the landscape of making their plans for his replacement.

The move merely prevents them from losing him on a free contract next summer, so that they can charge as high a fee as possible for one of the world’s best goalkeepers. Even so, with every day that goes by their negotiating position weakens.

It is why United are scanning the market now and doing due diligence on what is the unenviable task of replacing the Spanish No 1, and looking at the quality of goalkeepers such as Everton’s Jordan Pickford and Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak. Not forgetting that neither Real Madrid’s Kaylor Navas or Barcelona’s Jasper Cillessen — two extremely highly rated goalkeepers — are first-choice at their respective clubs.

Mourinho desperate to keep him

Although De Gea would not have been unable to speak to other Premier League until his contract had expired, Fifa rules permit players to discuss terms with clubs outside the UK from the January before their contract finishes.

Read more: Why Jan Oblak is the perfect replacement for David De Gea at Manchester United

United manager Jose Mourinho is desperate to keep hold of the Spanish goalkeeper, but club executives are wary that they could lose him in 2020 for nothing.

At 24 years old, Pickford is seen as a goalkeeper who could establish himself as a long-term No1 at the club, although Everton will expect a significant increase on the £30million they paid Sunderland for the player last year, especially as he only signed a six-year contract in September. Oblak, 25, is contracted to Atletico Madrid until 2021 but has a release clause in his contract of around £87m.

De Gea signed for United from Atletico Madrid for £19m in 2011.

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Liverpool‘s 2-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Parc de Princes has made their qualification ambitions from Group C of the Champions League a fair bit more difficult.

Neymar and Kylian Mbappé ran riot through the Reds’ defence, handing Jurgen Klopp’s men a third loss in the European campaign, at odds with their domestic form in which they are yet to taste defeat.

Read more: PSG’s cosmic trio prove their brilliance and leave Liverpool seeing stars

Liverpool now face an uphill battle to qualify from their Champions League group, needing a win of a certain quality at Anfield when group leaders Napoli come to visit in the final round of fixtures.

Jurgen Klopp’s men lost 1-0 in the tie in Naples in early October, their first loss of the season and a tawdry performance in which Naby Keita struggled before picking up an injury.

How things stand

Permutations

If PSG win vs Red Star

PSG top the group on 11 points and Liverpool need to beat Napoli, taking both teams to 9 points. It then goes to goal difference and then away goals – and Liverpool need to register either a 1-0 win, or win by a two-goal cushion to avoid going home on away goals.

If Liverpool win 2-1 or 3-2, etc, Napoli will qualify on the away goals rule.

If PSG draw vs Red Star

PSG move to nine points. Liverpool need to win against Napoli and it’s a goal difference shootout for qualification places and then away goals. Again, Liverpool need to register either a 1-0 win, or win by a two goal cushion to gain superiority over Napoli, as PSG’s goal difference is far greater than both. There’s an outside chance of Liverpool topping the group if they register an unlikely five-goal win over Napoli.

If PSG lose vs Red Star

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Liverpool still need to win, but have a chance at topping the group if they win 1-0 or by a two goal cushion.

Napoli qualify in second and PSG fail to qualify.

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