Arne Slot has opted to drop Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz on the bench after both started and impressed in the midweek Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid.

The decision sees Hugo Ekitike regain his starting spot up top, while Dominik Szoboszlai is moved back into the 10 after a commendable spell at right-back. Milos Kerkez also starts after being hooked before half-time against Burnley.

Everton, meanwhile, make one change from the side that drew to Aston Villa, with Vitalii Mykolenko coming into the side in place of Tim Iroegbunam.

Jack Grealish, who has been a revelation since his loan signing from Man City, will be one to watch on the left.

Liverpool XI: Alisson; Bradley, Conate, Van Dijk, Question; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoslai, Gakpo; Ekitic.

Everton XI: Pickford; O’Brien, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish; Beto.

… will be confirmed from Anfield in the next few minutes.

Virgil van Dijk accepts Liverpool are making things unnecessarily difficult for themselves and must improve to avoid having to repeat their trick of scoring late winners.

“I think it was a little bit unnecessary. But Atletico are a team who never give up and have a lot of quality. Then we showed again the resilience we have shown for a couple of years,” said Van Dijk.

“We don’t want to come into a situation where we have to chase. You have to try to go for the win and I think we had the opportunities to kill the game and do better.

“But it is still progress, we are still learning and I am pretty confident we are going to get there.”

David Moyes is not envious of Merseyside derby rivals Liverpool’s huge summer transfer business but pointed out they spent more on one player than Everton have invested in their squad in the last two seasons.

Alexander Isak’s £125m arrival from Newcastle on deadline day broke the British transfer record and took the outlay at Anfield this summer to £450m. By contrast, Everton spent about £63m.

“You have to earn the right to (spend money). First of all you have to win and be in the big competitions which make the money,” said Moyes.

“I found at West Ham three years in Europe allowed us to spend money and bring money in.

“From that point of view I think Liverpool are entitled to do it. I heard Arne (Liverpool boss Slot) defending himself saying he’s brought in a lot of money as well.

“But I still think they’ve spent more on one player than we have on the whole squad.”

Everton manager David Moyes said taking on Liverpool had always been a difficult task for him, but he was aware that the defending champions have some vulnerabilities ahead of the Merseyside derby.

Moyes, who has won only six of the 44 matches he has faced against Liverpool in his managerial career, said the visit to Anfield would help gauge Everton’s quality after his team picked up seven points in their first four league matches.

“As much as Liverpool have shown at different times where they have been very good … other times they have shown some vulnerability when they have conceded goals,” Moyes said.

“We will have to try and take advantage of those moments as well. We played them last year at Anfield and lost to an offside goal and we want to try and run them close again and maybe this time things will go in our favour.”

Liverpool manager Arne Slot kept his cards close to his chest on the possibility of Alexander Isak starting the 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. “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 today, then we will see about the lineup later today and you will see tomorrow.”

The Reds have had their composure tested against Everton in recent years, with their most recent late show, against Atletico Madrid, reinforcing Arne Slot’s momentum this term

Everton will be missing Jarrad Branthwaite with a hamstring injury. Vitaliy Mykolenko is also a doubt having missed their last outing, a goalless draw with Aston Villa.

Alexander Isak is again unlikely to play the full 90 minutes, after Arne Slot cautioned against pushing him too hard following his summer on strike for Newcastle. Curtis Jones is available for Liverpool, with Slot confirming he has a fully fit squad to select from.