Liverpool vs Everton injury news and return dates ahead of the Merseyside derby
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 12: Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool comes on during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC at Goodison Park on February 12, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Everton manager David Moyes and Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on the sidelines during this season's first Merseyside derby
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Everton and Liverpool will lock horns once again on Wednesday evening as the two teams return to action after the international break. The Merseyside derby at Anfield is the standout fixture as the Premier League gets back underway for the run-in following a two-week break.
League leaders Liverpool will be desperate to win after a difficult week saw them lose to Paris Saint-Germain and exit the Champions League before a Carabao Cup final loss to Newcastle United ahead of the internationals. Everton, meanwhile, will travel to Anfield looking to play spoilers once more having netted a 97th-minute equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw when the teams met at Goodison last month.
And the Toffees have been boosted by the return of Iliman Ndiaye and Dwight McNeil as the pair of attackers trained on Friday following injury lay-offs.
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Ndiaye had scored in wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion before limping off midway through the first half of the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Scans confirmed he suffered medial ligament damage.
Meanwhile, McNeil hasn't played since a 4-0 victory over Wolves back in December, in which he aggravated a knee injury that had saw him miss a number of matches earlier in the season.
Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin will remain sidelined for Everton and the Blues will be sweating over the fitness of left-back Vitalii Mykolenko, who suffered a thigh problem while on international duty with Ukraine this week.
Liverpool will be assessing internationals of their own when they return to the AXA. Alisson Becker was substituted after a suspected concussion suffered while playing for Brazil against Colombia, although the goalkeeper would later confirm on social media he was doing fine.
Brazil's national team doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, said: "Becker suffered a trauma to the head region, he was replaced by a suspected concussion. Now we will do all the CBF protocol, it will undergo recommended imaging tests, a computed tomography, then a resonance with diffusion. If all the tests are normal, we’ll follow up and do a cognitive test. And then we will evaluate the player.
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"In the possibility that everything is normal, we will make a sequence of observations in the coming days. Today, we will do the tests, all the necessary evaluations. Alisson is normal, with no complaints. He reported no fainting and no memory loss. He thought it was a little slower. In this complaint, the recommended is the replacement of the player."
Meanwhile, Ryan Gravenberch pulled out of the Netherlands squad and is being assessed. Defenders Joe Gomez (hamstring), Trent Alexander-Arnold (ankle) and Conor Bradley (hamstring) will play no part against David Moyes' men given they are still sidelined by with their respective injuries. That means Jarell Quansah is likely to start at right-back. Tyler Morton is also out injured.
Arne Slot and David Moyes are set to speak to the press this week ahead of the match.