Pre-match reading
Jordan Pickford starts in goal for Everton, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin are fit enough for the bench. Liverpool are unchanged.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Kabak, Henderson, Robertson; Thiago, Wijnaldum, Jones; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Adrian, Tsimikas, Davies, Phillips, N Williams, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Origi.
Everton (possible 4-4-1-1) Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey; Davies, Doucoure, Gomes, Digne; James; Richarlison.
Substitutes: Olsen, Nkounkou, Allan, Sigurdsson, Onyango, Calvert-Lewin, King, Iwobi, Bernard.
Referee Chris Kavanagh.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Friendly Derby. Arf! There is vengeance in the air at Anfield, where Liverpool and Everton meet tonight. The return fixture, a 2-2 draw at Goodison in October, was the beginning of the end of Liverpool’s title challenge: Jordan Pickford nobbled Virgil van Dijk with a dreadful challenge and Richarlison was sent off for an even worse tackle on Thiago.
Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool are not out for revenge, though nobody really believes him. Liverpool’s idea of retribution will almost certainly involve trying to play rather than kicking Everton off the park. The game has changed since Steve McMahon rattled Vinnie Jones’s shinbone as payback for Jones’s infamous challenge in the FA Cup final a few months earlier.
Whatever Liverpool’s action plan, this is the most keenly anticipated Merseyside derby in a fair while - and not just because of the needle. For once Liverpool and Everton are chasing the same thing, a place in the top four. They are currently sixth and seventh, though both can go level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea if they win their game(s) in hand.
Liverpool have lost their last three league games and Everton their last two, so at least one of them will end a losing streak today. Everton would like to put another couple of stats to bed. They haven’t beaten Liverpool anywhere since 2010, and their last victory at Anfield was in 1999. Three players were sent off that night; just another Friendly Derby.
Kick off 5.30pm.
from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Zzqyxk
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