According to club legend John Aldridge, Liverpool full-back Kostas Tsimikas produced one of his "worst" performances during Saturday's Merseyside derby.

Liverpool - who are fifth in the 2023 Premier League net spend table - have made a strong start to the 2023/24 campaign. They are currently third and just a point adrift of Arsenal and Manchester City.

Before the international break, Liverpool dropped points against Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton but they bounced back against Everton on Saturday afternoon.

Jurgen Klopp's side were far from their best over the weekend but they ended up beating their local rivals 2-0 at Anfield.

Ashley Young was sent off for two bookings before a late brace from Mo Salah settled the game in Liverpool's favour.

Aldridge recognises that Liverpool "need to play a lot better" if they are going to sustain a serious challenge for the Premier League title. He also hit out at Salah, Tsimikas and summer signing Alexis Mac Allister.

"The three points are all that matter in a derby game and Liverpool remains a red city, as I'm pretty sure it will be for a long time to come!" Aldridge said via Sunday World.

"Yet Klopp won't need me to tell him that Liverpool need to play a lot better than this if they are to maintain a title challenge this season.

"Salah turned in his worst performance of the season so far yesterday, but still came up with the match-winning moments when the chances came his way. Alexis Mac Allister looked off the pace.

"Kostas Tsimikas had one of his worst games in a Liverpool jersey and had to be taken off. In the end, the match officials helped Liverpool over the line in this game and that's not the way you want to win any football match."

Defender Virgil van Dijk has encouraged Liverpool to be "calm" in games as they "have the quality" to get the better of most opponents.

"Obviously we are still at the beginning of the season but there are very positive signs, very pleased we kept a clean sheet, won quite comfortably, didn't give many chances away," Van Dijk said.

"We shouldn't panic anyways, we have the quality that whatever happens in the game, 1-0 down or in the last couple of minutes still 0-0, chasing for the winner, we have to be calm.

"That's a sign of a great team because we have players that can make a difference."