Liverpool vs Everton LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups from Merseyside derby – UK Times

Right, just five minutes or so until the team news lands at Anfield – here’s a quick reminder of what we know so far:

Wednesday’s trip across Stanley Park will prove too soon for Iliman Ndiaye, Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, all of whom have returned to training but won’t be ready to feature. Vitali Mykolenko is in contention though, while Orel Mangala remains a long-term absentee for David Moyes after injuring his ACL in January.

Will there be any surprises?

Virgil van Dijk has urged the Liverpool fans to lift the home side tonight as they chase the Premier League title.

“All season long, I have been talking about focus, humility, hard work, togetherness and full commitment, and those are the things, along with our quality, which will get us to where we want to be,” Van Dijk says in his programme notes.

“You guys can play your part too. I’ve said previously that we want Anfield to be absolutely on fire every time we play between now and the end of the season, and I’d like to repeat that request here.

“We have five home games remaining, starting on Wednesday night, and our wish is that every single one of our opponents feels the power of this stadium. Let’s have the place bouncing, from first whistle to last.

“We know what to expect from Everton. We only have to go back a few weeks to see that.

“The game at Goodison Park in February was really tough and ended in disappointment for us with that late equaliser, but we know we can play better than we did that night, and with you guys roaring us on, that will be the aim.”

Last week brought news that, while perhaps unsurprising, would have come as a disappointment to Liverpool fans with Trent Alexander-Arnold seemingly close to agreeing a move to Real Madrid. Will it be business as usual for the right back between now and the end of the season?

For so long, possession has been inextricably linked to Premier League success – but things may be changing. Lawrence Ostlere explores how Liverpool are benefitting from a tactical shift:

Semi-automated offsides will be introduced in Premier League matches for the latter stages of the current season, the league has revealed.

The technology was originally intended to be introduced after one of the autumn international breaks in October or November.

It was notably debuted in English football during the FA Cup fifth round at the start of March, featuring in seven of the eight ties being played.

Following additional non-live testing in the Premier League, semi-automated offsides will now be used for the first time in the top flight this season, using virtual offside lines and graphics along with optical player tracking for those watching at home or in a stadium.

There was a strange feeling around some Premier League training grounds on Monday, especially for the modern game. It was one of refreshment. The sun was out for a lot of teams, and many players haven’t had a game for two and a half weeks. It represents the longest break the Premier League has had since the summer.

Such a gap would normally bring the same sense of refreshment to the actual games, but then this is also a strange time for the Premier League as a whole. Normally so used to being the biggest show around, “the world’s best league” last weekend witnessed the FA Cup bringing some actual storylines back to a relatively drab season.

That was something else that fed into the feeling at some training grounds this week. There is a sense of a season winding down, rather than building to a crescendo.

Chelsea and Liverpool are both aiming to secure the signing of Dean Huijsen this summer, although Real Madrid are monitoring the Spanish centre-half.

The 19-year-old has been one of many Bournemouth revelations this season, as the south-coast club are bracing themselves for huge interest in a good group of inspired signings. Huijsen’s situation is made a little simpler, due to the understanding he has a release clause of around £50m.

Both Chelsea and Liverpool have been seeking to sign a new centre-half, and have been simultaneously working on a potential deal to bring the 19-year-old in. While the Stamford Bridge hierarchy are felt to have currently made more progress, Huijsen’s future is seen as very much up in the air.

The Scot takes Everton across Stanley Park for the 246th Merseyside derby on Wednesday after overseeing the second most games in charge at Anfield of any manager who has not won there – but smiled that he would mention Sir Bobby Robson, the only visiting coach to play away at Liverpool more often without tasting victory.

Need a reminder of that mad, manic Goodison Park epic? Here’s how Richard Jolly made sense of it all in February:

Time and again, Arne Slot described himself as “rational”. He can often seem the most sensible man in the strange world of Premier League management but his first taste of the Merseyside derby ended with Slot looking his most irrational, with Michael Oliver brandishing the red card after a post-match blast, and the subsequent referee’s report revealing that the Liverpool head coach told the official: “I will f***ing blame you if we don’t win the league.”

As Slot approaches a rematch – with Everton, not Oliver – the aim is to be the calm, measured winner who has taken his team to the brink of the Premier League title.