Liverpool vs Everton: English Premier League – teams, start, lineups

Who: Liverpool vs Everton
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield in Liverpool, United Kingdom
When: Saturday, August 20, at 12:30pm (11:30 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 9:30pm (8:30 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot kept his cards close to his chest on the possibility of Alexander Isak starting in Saturday’s Merseyside derby against Everton, saying Britain’s record signing is likely still feeling the effects of his long-awaited return to action.

The Sweden striker played an hour of Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in his first significant action in months due to his dispute with Newcastle United and prolonged move to Liverpool.

“We just have to see how they all feel,” Slot said ahead of Friday afternoon’s training. “All I know is Alex probably felt his body more than ever before after the 60 minutes he played, so let’s see how he recovered, then we will see about the lineup.”

Slot also addressed the possibility of pairing Isak with close-season signing Hugo Ekitike up front, a combination that could offer the champions a new attacking dimension.

“If both of them are in the best form of their life then you consider more to play them together,” Slot said. “It’s quite clear that we have a certain structure of 4-3-3, but the amount of times … where we have ended the game with two nines has happened a lot as well.”

Liverpool are the only Premier League team with a perfect record, sitting atop the table with four wins from four games, while Everton are sixth after a solid start to the season.
Liverpool manager thanks Everton for Jota solidarity
Slot knows the derby atmosphere at Anfield on Saturday will be electric, but said the respect Everton showed after the death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car accident in July adds another emotional layer to the match.

Everton striker Beto, who was born in Lisbon, and the club’s former Portuguese player Youssef Chermiti, now at Rangers, were among the Toffees who visited Anfield to pay their respects in the days immediately following Portugal striker Jota’s death.
“They are a good team and there is rivalry but what I also liked and what I want to emphasise is what they did when Diogo passed away, coming to Anfield,” Slot said.

“It’s so nice to see that in tragedies the rivalry is still there but the respect to both is still there.”

Slot has several Merseyside derby “debutants,” but laughed at suggestions he would need to prepare them for the atmosphere.

“For the new ones, it is not for the first time that they play in circumstances where there are a lot of rivalries and intensity in the game.”