In the fifth round of the Premier League this weekend, Liverpool will face Everton at home and stage a Merseyside derby.

Everton striker Beto said in an exclusive interview that the late Liverpool player Jota gave him enthusiastic help when he joined Everton, but he also admitted that he would not expect Reds fans to "let him go" in the weekend derby.

Betto said that he and Jota were not very familiar with him outside the court, but when he joined Everton from Udinese two years ago, Jota still contacted him.

Speaking of Jota's death, Beto said: "The day the bad news came, I was at my home in Portugal, preparing to go to Manchester to compete in the preseason. I was shocked because Diogo was really a good person.

"We are not friends, but you know, when you compete with fellow Portugals, we usually stop and chat for a while. There are fellow villagers like B Fee and B Se, but when I joined Everton, he (Jota) was the first person to send me a text message. ”

" He sent me a text message and said: I am happy for you. If you need anything here, I can help you, just contact me.

"Every time we play with Liverpool, we'll talk for a while. We're not good friends, but we'll talk for a while. He's really a good and good person. I'll say hello to him: 'Is everything OK?'

" (I heard that he's passed away) is very sad. It really makes me very sad. ”

"When Everton expressed his desire to let me go to pay tribute to him, I said I will go, I will go. Because he is really a very, very good person. Not only because he is Portuguese, we are a little familiar with him, but also because he is a humble and good man.

"You can see what everyone says about him. Do you know? It's really a very sad thing."

Speaking of the feeling of going to Anfield to express condolences, Betto said: "It's good, I see the unity between the two teams. It's not just between the teams, but more between the fans.

"Many Everton fans are sad, even if he's an opponent, it's not just about football. This is life, life is more important than football.

"If I go to Anfield on Saturday, they might boo me, which is normal. Fans won't think: Beto is a good guy because he went to give flowers to Jota. It's different.

"They went to the stadium for football, but they are also humans, and I have no objection to it (being booed).

"Of course, I will respect Jota and the Liverpool community. But I also said that this is a derby battle - I need to go there and try to win, score goals, and fight for everything."