Kuyt targets Goodison treble

Dirk Kuyt admits he is relishing Sunday's Merseyside derby against Everton and the opportunity to complete a hat-trick of successive Barclays Premier League victories at Goodison Park

While Fernando Torres stole the headlines with a stunning brace in front of the Gwladys Street end last season, Kuyt was the toast of the Red half of the city in 2007-08 when he struck two second half penalties, including one in stoppage-time, to secure a dramatic victory.
 
And as Liverpool prepare to cross Stanley Park once more this weekend, the 29-year-old is hoping for more of the same against David Moyes' troops and a third successive league triumph at Goodison.
 
"I have some good memories of playing at Goodison and hopefully we can continue this on Sunday," Kuyt told Liverpoolfc.tv.
 
"It was a strange game when I scored the two penalties, but it was a great day for us all.
 
"To score the winner in the last minute of a derby was a fantastic feeling and it was good to celebrate the goal with our supporters and my teammates. Hopefully there are more days like this to follow at Goodison.
 
"The derby matches are always very special and you never need to be motivated for these games.
 
"We want to win the game, everyone is looking forward to it and we can't wait to play. We have confidence we can beat them."
 
Liverpool head for Goodison on the back of European disappointment after the Reds were eliminated from the Champions League in midweek despite beating Debrecen 1-0 in Hungary.
 
While Kuyt acknowledges the squad's frustration at exiting the competition, the No.18 is keen to accentuate the positives that can be taken from the victory in Budapest - a result he hopes Rafael Benitez's side will use as a springboard to embark on a winning run of form.
 
"We did what we had to by winning our game, but unfortunately Fiorentina beat Lyon and that means we are out of the Champions League," he said.
 
"We are all very disappointed and it feels strange that we are out of the Champions League already because normally we reach the final stages.
 
"But we have to move on. It's happened and we have to put it behind us.
 
"We have to take the positives from the game against Debrecen; we won and maybe it could have been by a couple more.
 
"We played a bit better and we want to carry that form into the Everton game. Hopefully that will happen and we can keep going from there."
 
The upshot of Tuesday's result means Liverpool will compete in the Europa League in the New Year.
 
While viewed by some as Europe's secondary competition, Kuyt insists the Reds will be going all out to bring the trophy to Anfield to ensure a successful conclusion to 2009-10.
 
He said: "We will take it seriously. Liverpool are a club who want to win trophies, and the Europa League is a good trophy to win, so we want to go for it and win it.
 
"We want to win as many trophies as possible. Everyone knows the season so far has been disappointing, but we want to change things and make the best of it.
 
"If you look at the teams who are in it at the moment, and some of the teams who could go into it from the Champions League, it could make for an interesting tournament.
 
"The season's not over by a long way. We definitely want to finish in the top four and win trophies.
 
"The Europa League is one and the FA Cup is coming up too. We want to show our best form and you never know what will happen."
 
With key players now returning to action following injury, Kuyt is predicting an upturn in Liverpool's fortunes in the coming weeks.
 
"We've had a lot of injuries, so we're not the luckiest team at the moment but sometimes this happens in football," he continued.
 
"The players who have been out injured are now starting to come back, and once we've got everybody fit, I think we can kick on and return to form.
 
"The form of the team is improving. I thought we were unfortunate not to win the game against Manchester City last weekend and we were disappointed to have drawn.
 
"But when things are not going so well you have to work really hard as a team, stick together and the luck will change.
 
"Everton are not playing at their best level at the moment either, but everything can change in one game, especially in a derby.
 
"They will be ready for us, we will be ready for them, and we have confidence we can beat them."