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Not long now: Referee Darren England and his team of match officials lead both sets of players out on to the rain-drenched pitch. Virgil van Dijk and James Tarkowski skipper the sides in this 247th Merseyside derby at a rocking Anfield and kick-off is just a few minutes away.
Arne Slot: In an interview with TNT Sports, Arne Slot says that Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz have been left on the bench because they don’t have the requisite match fitness for what is likely to be the most intense of the three games Liverpool will have played in the last seven days. The way he was talking, I expect we’ll see one or both players on the field before the 90 minutes are up.
Arne Slot: During his pre-match presser, Liverpool’s head coach was asked about the possibility of playing his summer signings Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike up front in the same team, either today or at some point in the future. “I consider many things and it depends always on how well they are doing,” he said. “If both of them are in the best form of their life then you consider more to play them together, but it is quite clear that we have a certain structure of 4-3-3.”
