Beto opens up on kind gesture Diogo Jota paid him after joining Everton and his love for Scousers

Everton striker Beto spoke about paying his respects to Liverpool's Diogo Jota and and the passion of Scouse football fans ahead of the 247th Merseyside Derby at Anfield on Saturday

Beto has revealed the kind gesture that the late Liverpool player Diogo Jota paid to him when he signed for Everton. But the Blues striker admits he doesn't expect Reds fans to give him a ride in Saturday's big match.

Everton go to Liverpool for the 247th Merseyside Derby on Saturday some 172 days since the sides last faced each other. It will be the first time the Blues will not 'cross Stanley Park' in the history of the fixture after they moved to Hill Dickinson Stadium from Goodison Park.

Another major event since that previous meeting on April 2, was the death of the match-winner from that night, Jota, who was killed alongside his brother Andre Silva, in a car crash on July 3.

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In the wake of the tragedy, Beto, and Everton's other Portuguese-born player at the time, Youssef Chermiti, joined club ambassador Ian Snodin in presenting a floral tribute by Liverpool's ground, with Blues boss David Moyes and his assistant Alan Irvine among others making a similar gesture.

Although Beto acknowledges he was not close to his local football rival off the field, Jota, who signed for Liverpool on this day five years ago, still reached out to him when he joined Everton from Italian club Udinese in August 2023.

Reflecting on Jota's death, Beto said: “That day, the day that thing happened, I was at home in Portugal. That day I would travel to Manchester to come here for the pre-season.

“I was shocked. I was shocked because Diogo was a really good guy.

“We were not friends, but you know, when you play against Portuguese players and everything, we normally stop, we speak a little bit.

“You have Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, these guys, but when I signed for Everton, he was the first guy who texted me.

“He just texted me and said: ‘I'm happy for you. I'm happy for you. If you need anything on the city, everything, I can help you, just give me a shout'.

“After every game that we play against Liverpool, we’d talk a little bit. We were not best friends, you know, but we talk a little bit, he was a really, really good guy. I’d ask: ‘how is everything?’

“It was sad. It was really sad.

“When Everton showed the interest for me to go to the stadium, I said: ‘I go, I go’, because he was a really, really nice person. Not just because he was Portuguese and we understand each other, but he was a really, really nice person, humble.

“You can see what everyone says about him, you know? It's something that is really, really sad.”

Blue scarves from Evertonians laid on the Kop were some of the first tributes paid for Liverpool's supporters after Hillsborough and once again the city united at a time of tragedy through the classy actions of Everton and their fanbase following Jota's death.

Asked how he felt going to Anfield to pay his respects, he said: “It was good, I saw a togetherness between Everton and Liverpool. Not between clubs, but more between fans, you know?

“A lot of Everton fans were sad because even if he's a rival, but it’s more than football. It's life, life is more than football.

“I liked the way Everton approached it, not just the club, but the fans, they approached it really good. It was a good feeling.

“I love the Scousers, to be honest, because they are really, really nice people. If they support Liverpool, if they don't support Liverpool, they are really nice people.

“All of the Scousers that I bump into outside of football, and when they don't know that I'm a footballer, they are really, really good people. With football, it's different.

“Sometimes they're going to hate you. It's not hate, but they're going to dislike you just because you play for the rival. It's normal. For me, it's okay.

“Sometimes they say: 'Beto, you're s**t Van Dijk is going to do this to you. We're going to batter you guys. We're going to do this'.

“It's okay. But when it matters, when it was about life, they were there because they are human. You know, we are humans, so, for me, it was really, really okay.

“If I go to Anfield on a Saturday and they boo me or they whistle to me, it's normal. They're not going to be thinking: 'Oh, Beto is a good guy because he went to lay flowers for Diogo'. It's not the same.

“They go there for football, you know, but the part that they're human being, they have it. So I’m okay with that.

“Of course, I will have respect for Diogo and for the Liverpool community. But like I said, it's a derby - I need to go there and try to win, score and everything.”

That intensity goes both ways, though, and speaking at Hill Dickinson Stadium, where he and Tyler Dibling surprised supporters with guest appearances on the first day of tours at Everton's new home, Beto acknowledges that they were all asking him to hit the net at Anfield.

He said: “They all told me: 'Please score at least one on Saturday'. I replied that I need to and I want to and I'm going to do my best!”

Beto already knows what it's like to score in the derby having broken the deadlock 11 minutes into the 2-2 draw with Liverpool on February 12 this year in what was the last-ever Goodison Park meeting between the clubs.

Even before James Tarkowski's dramatic 98th-minute equaliser with the last kick of a ball from a Blues player, the 27-year-old recalls the incredible noise.

Beto said: “It was loud, really loud. It was the highlight of my Everton career so far but when I scored the goal, I didn't even realise that I scored against Liverpool.

“You just see Liverpool on the TV, the players and everything. When I scored, I just realised when I arrived home… wow, I just scored against Liverpool, I was really happy about that.

“Looking back it had even more meaning. It was in the last Goodison derby and everything, it was good.”

Derby week always feels different in Liverpool. Even overseas players like Beto pick up on the change in mood from those around them.

He said: “They're excited because of the football that we are playing. We are playing good football, offensive, attractive football, and they are confident, they trust the team.

“You know it's the derby, everyone in the city stops to watch the derby. Our kit men, they are proper Scousers, they always say: ‘this is the week, this is the week.'

“They are already with the mindset that we need to go there, we need to win. It's a different week, yeah, a different week when it's derby week.”

Beto added: “You know, I always have discussions with my friends that support Benfica, Sporting, because it's intense. Benfica-Sporting, Benfica-Porto, Porto-Sporting, it's really intense but I never played for any one of them and played in the derby, so I don't know.

“Outside of the pitch, it's the same as here. But here is a little more religious, you know?

“I spoke to Jimmy [Comer, father of actress Jodie Comer and member of the Everton physiotherapy team] and he said they have a group chat and when it's derby week, they don't speak with each other.

“I can see it's religious because in Portugal, everyone speaks with each other, you know, but when it's time for the game, yeah, okay, it's the game. But here is something religious.

“When you go into the week, you start seeing people teasing you. Seamus (Coleman), everyone in the club.

“The sessions are harder and everything, and you say: 'Ah, okay', and when you arrive to the game you just want to beat them and they want to beat you as well. It's good.”

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