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7.27pm: Today’s teams are in!
Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Adam, Spearing, Kuyt, Gerrard, Bellamy, Carroll. Subs: Doni, Aurelio, Suárez, Henderson, Coates, Downing, Carragher.
Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Parker, Livermore, Kranjcar, Modric, Bale, Adebayor. Subs: Cudicini, Saha, Rose, Nelsen, Khumalo, Luongo, Lancaster.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).

7.08pm: Early team news: Steven Gerrard starts for Liverpool but Luis Suárez is only on the bench.

7.03pm: News: the fog that threatened to force a postponement just a few minutes ago has lifted. But what hasn’t lifted, sadly, is Harry Redknapp’s flight from London, grounded because of “technical difficulties”.

Simon will be here from about 7.30, so until then why not read this preview?

Kenny Dalglish says Luis Suárez is keen to play against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night following his eight-match suspension for racially abusing Patrice Evra but the manager is not sure whether to throw him in at the deep end.

The Liverpool manager said of Suárez, who has not played since the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day: “He’ll want to play, won’t he? There is a lot to be taken into consideration – the way the other boys have played without him and the fact he has not played for a month.

“After five or six weeks out, it’s not automatic someone will come straight back into the team. It depends on the individual, it depends on our needs; not just who we have available but who we are playing against.”

To continue reading click here.

Premier League 2011-12LiverpoolTottenham HotspurPremier LeagueSimon Burnton
guardian.co.uk

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Good evening all. Scott will be here from about 5pm to guide you through this evening’s match. If you get here before him, here’s Barney Ronay on why there is more to David Platt than being Roberto Mancini’s go-to guy and scoring a wonder goal against Belgium

Various theories have been put forward to explain Manchester City’s recent gear shift, the transformation from a rather glum but tectonically irresistible force into the joyful, barrelling talent juggernaut of the past few weeks. Some have pointed to the galvanising effect of Mario Balotelli’s loopy charisma, his new status as prankster man-child genius. Others have noted sagely the fine form of David Silva and his terrible, agonising left foot, the kind of foot that means even after Silva has passed the ball it still seems to have a toe or two still attached, guiding the ball like a rudder, inflicting a malevolent intelligence on its trajectory.

Little mention has been made of another figure within the City cavalcade. This seems odd given his increasing touchline prominence, the way those unmistakable features have hung like a sallow-hued moon in the background of City’s many recent notable goal-leaps and touchline bundles. English football has a great gift for wilful amnesia and voluntary blind spots, but this can only be put off for so long and the time has come. We need to talk about David Platt.

Yes: Platt! From a distance it is hard to assess exactly what he does at City. Billed as an assistant coach, he seemed content in early season to frown helpfully on the fringes, sometimes leaning across to mutter a single sage observation into the fronds of Roberto Mancini’s tumbling neck-hair. Now though he seems to have displaced Brian Kidd as chief managerial chaperone and high-five go-to guy. Conjoined on the touchline Mancini and Platt look flushed, bright‑eyed, loved-up, like a triumphantly reconfigured man-band in well-groomed middle-age. This is obviously good news for Platt fans. Although that may not be saying very much, mainly because I think I may be pretty much the only one.

Premier League 2010-11West BromLiverpoolPremier LeagueScott Murrayguardian.co.uk

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“I have always considered Manchester United versus Liverpool to be the game of the season in English football,” says Sir Alex Ferguson. “We are talking about the two most successful clubs in England historically, and a rivalry that goes back to how industry changed when they opened the Manchester Ship Canal.”

You can’t really argue with him – the fixtures between the two teams are always huge – but that’s not going to stop the gloriously stubborn Kenny Dalglish trying. “If that is what he thinks then fine. That is up to Fergie. For me, I’ve always said the most important game is the next one. It’s Manchester United this time and next week it will be Norwich City.”

Kick off in the big Liverpool v Norwich City clash: 5.30pm, Saturday 22 October.

In the meantime: United are at Anfield today, match starting at 12.45pm.

Now, despite United starting the season strongly, and Liverpool stuttering a wee bit, the home side will fancy their chances today. They’ve won their last three home league games against United, their best run since a streak of nine in a row between 1972 and 1979. The last time the teams met, Dirk Kuyt scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season, a game in which Luis Suarez was sensational. But United are due one against Liverpool at Anfield, where they’ve not won since December 2007, Carlos Tevez scoring the winner. And here’s a different way to analyse the recent form in this fixture: John O’Shea scored a last-minute winner the season before that, so suddenly United’s record at the home of their bitter rivals is two wins from five matches, which doesn’t look bad at all.

Premier League 2011-12LiverpoolManchester UnitedScott Murrayguardian.co.uk