LIVE: Liverpool vs Everton | PREMIER LEAGUE

12:30 ET Canada-USA | 12:30 Cairo Local Time

Referee: Chris Kavanagh (England)
Venue: Anfield

When these two teams last met, back in October at Goodison Park, the match was full of controversy which mostly went at Liverpool’s expense. Liverpool took the lead twice, through Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, but Everton managed to draw level both times, courtesy of Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and the contest ended 2-2.

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But Liverpool lost two important players to long-term injury on that day. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford took out Virgil van Dijk with an extremely reckless tackle and got away with it, and the season ended for the big Dutchman. In the final minute, Richarlison was shown a straight red card for an equally malicious tackle on Thiago Alcantara, which made the former Bayern Munich midfielder miss several months of action too. To add insult to injury, VAR ruled out a goal for Liverpool for offside, a decision which still seems to have been made wrongly.

But putting all that aside now, Everton will be making the short trip across Stanley Park to Anfield, where Liverpool will welcome them in the 25th round of 2020-21 in the Premier League.

Liverpool

The season has been strange for many clubs, but for few to the extent it has been strange for Liverpool. They entered the campaign as the defending champions, with confidence. Having sold Dejan Lovren last summer, they chose not to sign a replacement for the Croatian, with manager Jurgen Klopp explaining that three designated centre-backs, along with midfielder Fabinho who could step in if required, should be enough. He was wrong, very wrong, but nobody could have foreseen what happened since.

Liverpool are now without all three of those centre-backs for the rest of the season, with Joe Gomez injuring his knee in England training soon after Van Dijk, and Joel Matip suffering torn ankle ligaments last month. Fabinho is injured as well, and Klopp has been forced to use a second midfielder in the role – captain Jordan Henderson, which has led to different problems in the form of a shift in the middle of the park.

The Reds were still doing reasonably well up to a point, but their recent form has been very poor. Of their last six league matches, they won two and lost four. They managed to beat Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, both away and both by 1-3, but they lost 0-1 at home to Burnley before that and afterwards to Brighton and Hove Albion, then 1-4 to league leaders Manchester City, also at home, and finally, they surrendered a hard-earned lead away to Leicester City through defensive mistakes and ended up losing 3-1. They will have found some comfort in the fact that they managed to beat RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 contest, played in Budapest earlier this week.

At the moment, Liverpool are 16 points behind Manchester City, and the title is all but gone. Their tally of 40 is only enough for sixth place right now, and they face a tough battle to finish inside top four.

No Van Dijk, no Gomez and no Matip, that much has been clear all along, but Klopp has revealed that Fabinho isn’t ready to return either. Newcomer Ozan Kabak played a very good game against Leipzig and could be thrown into the team alongside Henderson again. Midfielder James Milner is also out with a hamstring issue, and forward Diogo Jota still hasn’t recovered from a knee problem picked up in November. The good news for Klopp is that Naby Keita has return to team training. He isn’t ready to start yet but should make the bench.

Alisson Becker will be in goal again, with Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold flanking Henderson and Kabak. The trio of Georginio Wijnaldum, Thiago Alcantara and Curtis Jones should be in midfield again. Upfront, you’d expect the usual front three of Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino, though Klopp could give this game to Divock Origi, who often does well in the Merseyside Derby.

Everton

The Toffees started the season well and there was a moment when they sat top of the table and were widely considered as proper candidates for the title, but like with Liverpool, things have changed since. Right now, Everton are seventh, with three points less than their Red neighbours, though they have a game in hand. They may have hoped for a top-four finish too, but in reality, they should be happy if they make it into the Europa League too. It would certainly make a nice change to last season when they finished 12th.

In their last six league outings, Everton played a 1-1 draw at home against Leicester, they lost 0-2 at home to Newcastle, they beat Leeds United away by 1-2, they drew 3-3 away to Manchester United, shockingly lost 0-2 at home to relegation-battling Fulham, and rounded it off with a 1-3 defeat at home against Manchester City. All in all, one win, two draws and three defeats – less points won than Liverpool.

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Nonetheless, Everton are far from being a bad team under Carlo Ancelotti, and though they have been known to disappoint, they have days when it’s really hard to play against them, for anyone.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti revealed that midfielder Allan, who had been out for a long time with a muscle problem, is ready to start at Anfield. The same goes for striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury.

However, the manager also revealed that defender Yerry Mina will miss out due to a calf problem he picked up against Manchester City, which means Mason Holgate and Keane will likely form the heart of defence, flanked by Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne. Pickford will likely start in goal. Allan, if he plays, will be joined in the middle of the park by either Abdoulaye Doucoure, Andre Gomes or Tom Davies. James Rodriguez and Gylfi Sigursson are the candidates to play further up, behind Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, but a lot will depend on the system Ancelotti goes for – he has been known to use a number of different shapes this season.

LIVE: Liverpool vs Everton | PREMIER LEAGUE

12:30 ET Canada-USA | 12:30 Cairo Local Time