Liverpool is finally set to return to action after the international break and the weekend of FA Cup fixtures. And Arne Slot has named his starting XI to take on Everton at Anfield.
Alisson Becker is not fit enough to start after a head injury that forced him off while Brazil was playing Colombia so Caoimhin Kelleher starts. Conor Bradley, meanwhile, is not available from the substitutes' bench though he is nearing a return. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez remain sidelined.
Curtis Jones looks set to start at right-back ahead of Jarell Quansah as a result of the absences, with Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson making up the rest of the Liverpool back four. Kostas Tsimikas is among the subs.
In midfield, Liverpool lines up with its first-choice trio of Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister. Harvey Elliott is on the bench.
Mohamed Salah is joined by Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota up top. The Dutch winger Cody Gakpo was injured before the international break but is now fully fit again — he scored for the Netherlands against Spain in the UEFA Nations League — but is only on the bench for this one.
"Without dwelling too much on everything that happened before the international break, it is clear that a couple of important results went against us in both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup," Slot writes in his matchday program notes.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot reacts during the Carabao Cup final
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has admitted he should have rotated his players more this season (Image: Getty Images)
"In each case we congratulate our opponents in the knowledge that we have to use our own sense of disappointment in a positive way — starting tonight. We are now down to the final nine matches of a season in which the players, staff and supporters have already delivered so much, and yet there is so much still to play for.
"The situation that we are in is the kind that we would all have wanted when our campaign began at Ipswich Town back in August, so now we must make the most of it. This means remaining focused on ourselves and our own results, not becoming distracted by anything else, and reaching the standards that we know will be required in each and every game that we play."
Liverpool starting XI: Kelleher; Jones, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jota , Diaz . Subs: Jaros, Tsimikas, Quansah, Endo, Elliott, McConnell, Chiesa, Nunez, Gakpo.
Everton starting XI: Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Doucoure, Gana, Garner, Alcaraz; Harrison, Beto. Subs: Virginia, Patterson, Keane, Ndiaye, Chermiti, Young, Broja, Coleman, Iroegbunam.