Everton v Liverpool: Premier League – live!

10 min Sigurdsson’s low cross is put just wide of his own goal by van Dijk! The resulting corner leads to another break from Liverpool, and Gueye is lucky not to be booked for a foul by Mane.

9 min After a manic start, the game is slowly settling down. Everton look busy and purposeful, though I’m still not sure how they can really hurt Liverpool with this team.

8 min “I am also following this in the old school style,” says Ian Copestake. “On local radio. Next to my dad (an Evertonian) who is actually asleep. He was always too nice to ever impose his own Toffee inclination on his sons.”

7 min Bernard’s cross bounces across the Liverpool area and is miscontrolled by the stretching Walcott. Origi tries to break and is pulled down by Walcott, who is booked.

5 min “Well, here we go,” says Hubert O’Hearn. “It feels like a horse race about to enter the final stretch. The title looms as large as an iceberg and as distant as a forgotten dream. But I’m calm, I’m good, I’m relaxed, I’m into the cabernet, I’m copacetic.”

Embrace the terror. Whatever happens in the next two months, it’ll be with you for the rest of your life.

4 min The first bit of quality from Liverpool. Alexander-Arnold makes a 60-yard run infield and finds Wijnaldum. He moves it wide to Origi, who beats Coleman and hammers a low cross that is hoofed away by Keane.

3 min It’s been a frantic start, with a number of yeasty tackles on both sides.

1 min Peep peep! Everton kick off from right to left. I need not tell you what colours the teams are wearing.

There’s a wonderfully hostile atmosphere at Goodison; football as nature intended. This is great – and they haven’t kicked a ball yet.

The players on both sides look very serious as they emerge from the tunnel. I wonder how Jordan Pickford feels after that sorry mess at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp speaks “It’s a derby – I don’t want to make it smaller than it is but I cannot make it bigger than it is. It’s a very, very, very important game.”

An email! “My prediction?” asks Gary Naylor. “1-1 goals; 1-1 red cards; 1-1 managers deflecting blame.”

Richarlison is omitted by Marco Silva, with Bernard replacing him. Roberto Firmino returns for Liverpool – but only on the substitutes bench, which means Sadio Mane will continue at centre-forward. Jordan Henderson replaces James Milner in the only change from the side that hurt Watford 5-0 on Wednesday.

Everton (4-2-3-1) Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne; Schneiderlin, Gueye; Walcott, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin.
Substitutes: Stekelenburg, Jagielka, Kenny, Gomes, Davies, Tosun, Richarlison.

Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho; Salah, Mane, Origi.
Substitutes: Mignolet, Milner, Keita, Lallana, Shaqiri, Firmino, Sturridge.

Referee Martin Atkinson.

Hello. This Merseyside derby is all about droughts. Everton want to beat Liverpool for the first time in nine years; Liverpool need to win their first title for 29 years. The latter impacts the former, because Everton could redeem another nothing season by landing one on Liverpool’s title hopes.

A draw would be enough for Everton to ensure Liverpool no longer have their fate in their own hands, but the symbolic significance of a win would be enormous. And it would make up for that numbing defeat at Anfield in December, when Everton produced arguably their best performance of the season only to lose to Divock Origi’s tragifarcical goal in the 96th minute.

Everton’s form collapsed after that bizarre defeat, and they have taken only 14 points from the last 15 games. Liverpool’s form has also been iffy of late; they are on a desperate run of one defeat in the last 29 league matches.

But seriously, folks – because it’s not all giggles and stats round here – Liverpool’s away form isn’t the best. They have only one win and three goals from the last four league games, and you suspect their results away from Anfield will decide whether they achieve immortality in May.

Today’s match is probably their toughest remaining away fixture. The others are Fulham, Southampton, Cardiff and Newcastle.

In other words: big game, this.

Kick off is at 4.15pm.