Preview:Liverpool vs Everton - prediction, team news, lineups

Anfield will stage the 247th Merseyside derby between Premier League champions Liverpool and rivals Everton on Saturday lunchtime.

Bragging rights are once again on the line between these two teams, who last butted heads in April when the late Diogo Jota scored the only goal in a slender 1-0 home win for the Reds.

Match preview

It is fair to say that Liverpool are making a habit of leaving it late to come away from matches with maximum points, as Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League represents the fifth time in as many games this season that the Reds have required a winning goal on or after the 83rd minute.

Liverpool initially threw away a two-goal lead as early strikes from Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah were cancelled out by Marcos Llorente’s double, but captain colossus Virgil van Dijk came to the rescue and headed home a 92nd-minute winner for the Reds on Arne Slot’s 47th birthday.

Across all competitions, 29% of goals by Premier League teams in the 90th minute and beyond have been scored by Liverpool (4/14) so far this season, with the Reds requiring stoppage-time winners in three of their four top-flight fixtures to begin the defence of their title in perfect fashion, including Mohamed Salah’s 95th-minute penalty in a narrow 1-0 win at Burnley last weekend.

Slot was keen to praise the mentality of his Liverpool side in midweek, but the Dutchman has acknowledged that his team “should have made it easier for ourselves”. Indeed, many will feel that their ‘late show’ cannot be aired for much longer, though Reds supporters will not complain if they conjure up late drama once again to prevail against Everton this weekend.

Sitting top of the Premier League as the only team with a maximum 12 points, Liverpool will attempt to win each of this first five matches at the start of a PL campaign for just the third time, and they will back themselves to secure a positive result on Saturday, as they have lost just one of their last 28 home meetings with Everton in all competitions (W17 D10), winning their last four in a row since a 2-0 defeat in February 2021.

Over on the blue side of Merseyside, Everton have responded well following their opening-weekend defeat at Leeds United, accumulating seven points across their last three Premier League games as well as progressing to the third round of the EFL Cup.

The Toffees celebrated back-to-back league victories over Brighton & Hove Albion (2-0) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-2) before they were held to a goalless stalemate by Aston Villa at the Hill Dickinson Stadium last weekend - only Everton vs. Liverpool (12) has produced more 0-0 results than the Toffees versus Villa (nine) in Premier League history.

While David Moyes has taken positives from his Everton side keeping a fourth clean sheet in five competitive matches this season, he rued his team’s lack of a “finishing touch” against Villa after they could only register two of their 20 shots on target, despite dominating the contest on home soil.

Everton are now focused on improving their miserable Merseyside derby record, having won just two of their last 29 Premier League encounters with Liverpool (D14 L13), failing to make the net ripple in five of their last seven.

Moyes has never won a Premier League games at Anfield in 20 attempts (D6 L14) - the joint most any manager has managed at one stadium without winning, along with Moyes himself at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge (D7 L13).

However, the Scotsman has reason to be optimistic this weekend, as Everton have won six of their last 11 PL away matches (D2 L3), as many as the Toffees won in their previous 30 games combined (W6 D10 L14). All six of those wins have come in 2025 and they last claimed seven away victories in one year back in 2021, which included a 2-0 win at Anfield.

Liverpool Premier League form:

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Liverpool form (all competitions):

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Everton Premier League form:

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Everton form (all competitions):

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Team News

Liverpool boss Slot is set to have a fully-fit squad at his disposal, as midfielder Curtis Jones is "back in the fray" after missing the last two games with an unspecified problem.

Slot admitted that he was “surprised” by the fitness of record signing Alexander Isak who played for 58 minutes on his full Liverpool debut in midweek. While the Swedish striker is in contention to retain his starting spot, fellow summer signing Hugo Ekitike could be recalled to lead the line.

Salah has scored eight goals against Everton for Liverpool in the Premier League - only Steven Gerrard (nine) has more Merseyside derby goals in the division’s history - and the Egyptian attacker is all but certain to continue on the right flank this weekend.

Slot will weigh up whether to recall midfielder Alexis Mac Allister at the expense of either Dominik Szoboszlai or Ryan Gravenberch, while Robertson will hope to retain his starting spot at left-back ahead of Milos Kerkez.

As for Everton, Moyes has refused to rule out either Jarrad Branthwaite (hamstring) or Vitaliy Mykolenko (unspecified) who are "making progress" in their recovery from injury. Branthwaite is yet to play for the Toffees this season and is seemingly unlikely to start even if he does pass a late fitness test, while Mykolenko can also be considered as a doubt.

The potential absence of Mykolenko would likely see James Garner continue in a makeshift left-back role, with James Tarkowski, Michael Keane and Jake O’Brien completing the four-man defence protecting goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Jack Grealish - PL Player of the Month for August - and Iliman Ndiaye are expected to continue out wide as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall operates in an advanced central role, while Moyes has a big decision to make over whether to stick with Beto up front or recall Thierno Barry, who is still searching for his first Toffees goal.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Garner; Gueye, Iroegbunam; Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish; Beto

We say: Liverpool 2-0 Everton

Taking into account how both teams have started the new season and their records against one another in the Merseyside derby, it is difficult not to back Liverpool securing all three points at Anfield this weekend.

A resurgent Everton side, who have looked strong defensively this term, have the potential to frustrate Liverpool in a similar fashion to Burnley last time out, but we expect the Slot machine to churn out another victory to preserve their perfect start to 2025-26.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.