Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s coverage of Liverpool versus Everton at Anfield.
Today’s Merseyside derby marks the first time Liverpool have played at Anfield since November 2019, and riding high off a shock win against defending champions Chelsea last weekend, Matt Beard’s side will look to keep a cool head against their local rivals.
“It’s a different occasion playing at Anfield – that’s going to put added pressure onto us a little bit, but then also Everton – they’re coming to one of the most iconic stadiums in football,” Beard said in a press conference on Friday.
“It’s a Merseyside derby. There will be a bit of pressure on both teams.
“We’ve just go to concentrate on ourselves. Once the whistle goes, and they cross that white line, I’ve got every faith and confidence in the group that we can put in a good performance and work like we did [against Chelsea].”
Everton come into today’s derby with no such striking start to the season, having lost away from home to West Ham, but forward Izzy Christiansen has praised a developing positive mentality within the club as a whole.
Christiansen spoke to ITV, saying: “A huge amount of credit needs to be given to Frank Lampard and his staff.
“They’ve really increased the mood around the club. There’s a real connection between the men’s and women’s teams. A real integration.
“Encouraging each other and acknowledging our weekend’s results: those are the building blocks.”
Everton have won the last two match-ups between the teams, last claiming victory to send Liverpool down to the Championship, but fresh off their promotion, Liverpool have been started the Super League season with a point to praise. Can they take the spoils in front of a 20,000-strong Anfield crowd?
Kick-off is at 5.30pm, and ahead of this, we’ll be bringing you team news and live updates, and all the latest reaction post-match too.
