Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League meeting between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park. The Reds head into this Merseyside derby showdown sitting second in the table, having been replaced at the summit by Manchester City following the champions' 1-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday, but they can reclaim top spot with victory in the toughest of their remaining away fixtures.

Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League meeting between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park. The Reds head into this Merseyside derby showdown sitting second in the table, having been replaced at the summit by Manchester City following the champions' 1-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday, but they can reclaim top spot with victory in the toughest of their remaining away fixtures.

EVERTON TEAM NEWS!

STARTING XI: Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne; Gueye, Schneiderlin; Walcott, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin

SUBS: Stekelenburg, Jagielka, Kenny, Davies, Gomes, Tosun, Richarlison

LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS!

STARTING XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Mane, Origi

SUBS: Mignolet, Milner, Keita, Lallana, Shaqiri, Firmino, Sturridge

Henderson replaces Milner in Liverpool's only change from the resounding midweek win over Watford. Firmino is not fit to start so Mane will continue through the middle, with Salah and Origi - the matchwinner in the reverse fixture - either side of him. Everton show a couple of changes from their win at Cardiff City, meanwhile - Zouma returns from suspension and Bernard replaces Richarlison.

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KICKOFF:  Everton get this Merseyside derby clash underway! After eight-and-a-half years of hurt, will today be the day that the Toffees end their long wait for a victory in this victory?

Liverpool win a free kick in a dangerous position but Everton manage to scramble it clear. There is a terrific atmosphere inside Goodison Park today - both sets of supporters, as you would expect, are well up for this match.

Everton are winless in their last 18 encounters with Liverpool in all competitions, drawing nine and losing nine - the Toffees' longest ever such streak against their Merseyside rivals. The home side are focusing more on defending than attacking at the moment.

YELLOW CARD!  Seven minutes played and Walcott becomes the first player to be shown a yellow card. Origi was ready to burst clear and start a counter for the visitors, but Walcott pulled him back and gave referee Martin Atkinson little choice.

Gueye picks up the ball between the lines but a cross into the box is gathered by Alisson. Everton supporters are encouraged by that piece of play. The home team have been the better side on the ball early on.

Calvert-Lewin, who has looked very bright so far, slips the ball through for Sigurdsson. Rather than shooting, though, the Icelandic playmaker cuts the ball back towards the penalty spot but Van Dijk is there to cut it out.

Liverpool have a four-on-three counter, which they are unable to take advantage of. The Reds do win a corner, though, and it is another poor delivery - this time from Alexander-Arnold. The match has started at a fast tempo.

Henderson wraps his foot around the ball to send it into a dangerous zone. Everton do not look convincing at all in their attempt to clear the ball, and Wijnaldum would have had a simple finish in front of goal had he adjusted his feet in time.

The ball sat up nicely for Salah to lift it over Pickford, who was in no man's land, but Coleman gets a boot to it first. That all came from a straightforward pass over the top of the Everton defence.

SHOT!  Salah, denied the chance to shoot by Coleman a couple of minutes ago, gets past Zouma and curls the ball goalwards, but Pickford has a pretty simple save to make. The Egyptian forward is slowly growing into the game.

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Liverpool are looking incredibly dangerous on the counter. Everton are constantly on the back foot now, but they see out this latest dangerous attack. Incidentally, Walcott's booking after six minutes and 21 seconds was the quickest for an Everton player in the Premier League this season.

Keane heads the ball back to Pickford and Mane very nearly pounces, but he slips at a crucial moment and the Everton keeper gathers. There is a stoppage in play now as Walcott was caught by Origi and is in a bit of pain.

Walcott is OK to continue. There have been a number of niggling fouls in the opening quarter of the match. Liverpool want a penalty as Alexander-Arnold's cross hits Zouma in the midriff. No chance of a penalty being awarded for that!

Everton are yet to attempt a shot in this match, with Salah having the game's only shot so far 10 minutes ago. Despite the lack of goalmouth action, it has been a pretty gripping Merseyside derby so far.

Van Dijk shows why he is considered the best defender anywhere on the planet as he gets the better of Calvert-Lewin out wide and clips the ball forward for Mane. Everton have had to do a lot more defending than their opponents so far.

SAVE!  Salah squanders a huge chance to open the scoring for Liverpool. The Egyptian forward is played clean through on goal but he cannot open his body enough to curl the ball around Pickford, who gets a strong hand to the ball. The rebound falls nicely for Henderson to strike, but it is blocked in front of goal.

Walcott has struggled to get in the game so far, but he makes a positive run in behind, only for the offside flag to go up. The Toffees have managed to settle themselves following that huge chance for Liverpool a couple of minutes ago.

Everton are sitting a little too deep at the moment - not quite sure what Marco Silva's gameplan is. The Toffees have yet to manage an attempt of note and are somewhat fortunate to still be level.

Salah looks incredibly sharp as he sends Digne one way and then the other, but he cannot squeeze the ball on target after working some space for himself. A cross from the left then causes some panic, but Origi pulled back on Zouma to concede a free kick.

Everton need to start offering more in an attacking sense. The visitors look sharper in every department, yet it remains goalless as we edge closer to half time. Would this be considered a good result for the home side? Probably.

SHOT!  On the basis of their attacking display in this first half, this has to go down as a good chance for Walcott. The winger is played onside by Matip and he races in behind the Liverpool defence, only to hammer the ball over the crossbar when taking on the shot early.

Alexander-Arnold once again finds himself in a bit of space down the right, but his cross is aimed too close to Pickford and it is a comfortable catch for the Everton goalkeeper. There are a few groans from the home supporters as their side are struggling to keel hold of the ball.

Good defending from Digne, who makes up a lot of ground to cut out a cross that was heading right for the boot of Alexander-Arnold towards the back post.

Schneiderlin trips Matip, who was carrying the ball forward for Liverpool, to concede a free kick 35 yards from goal. Robertson clips it towards Van Dijk, who cannot keep the ball in play at full stretch. Disappointing!

One minute has been added on at the end of the first half.

HALF TIME:  EVERTON 0-0 LIVERPOOL

The sides go into half time all square at 0-0. It was not the liveliest of first halves, in truth, with just one real chance of note. Salah was played through on goal just before the half-hour mark, but he was denied by Pickford and Henderson wasted the follow-up attempt. More is required from both sides in the remaining 45 minutes!

Liverpool enjoyed the better of the rare first-half opportunities, with Mohamed Salah testing Jordan Pickford with a curler from the edge of the box before wasting his glorious opportunity just before the half-hour mark. The Egyptian forward was played through on goal by a long pass from Fabinho, but he was unable to open up his body and Jordan Pickford stuck out a strong hand to keep the ball out.

The loose ball fell nicely for returning skipper Jordan Henderson to strike, but his shot was blocked in front of goal as two chances in the space of five seconds went begging. Everton's attacking players were feeding off scraps for large parts of the first half, though they did create half a chance shortly before the interval when Theo Walcott, played onside by Joel Matip, burst through and fired a powerful shot over the crossbar.

Klopp will be the happier of the two managers, though this is a scoreline that would suit Everton a lot more than Liverpool. Each of the last three Merseyside derbies in the Premier League have been 0-0 at half time, so fingers crossed for a bit more drama in the second period!

BENCH WATCH!

EVERTON SUBS: Stekelenburg, Jagielka, Kenny, Davies, Gomes, Tosun, Richarlison

LIVERPOOL SUBS: Mignolet, Milner, Keita, Lallana, Shaqiri, Firmino, Sturridge

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KICKOFF:  Liverpool, who will see this as two points dropped if the game finishes this way, get us back underway at Goodison Park!

It has been a bit of a stop-start beginning to the second period. Origi gets the better of Coleman out wide and cuts the ball back into a dangerous position, but Gueye gets to it ahead of a Liverpool player.

Everton attempted just one shot in the first half - their fewest in a Premier League home game since January 2017 (also one vs. Man City). Liverpool have not been a great deal better in the final third, creating just one real chance.

Sigurdsson sends in a teasing cross from the right towards Bernard, but Matip gets to it first. Six minutes of the second half played and neither team has managed to really keep hold of the ball.

Fabinho gives away the ball and Everton get bodies forward. Sigurdsson takes the ball off Walcott and slips it down the right for Coleman, whose cross into the near post is helped behind for a corner. Better from Everton!

SAVE!  Calvert-Lewin meets the corner and heads it into the ground. Alisson watches it all the way, getting across to his right to gather the ball. The Brazilian keeper made that look easy.

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SAVE!  This match is finally starting to liven up. Liverpool win a free kick and Alexander-Arnold gets his attempt on target, but it was a pretty simple one for Pickford to deal with.

CHANCE!  Another chance comes and goes for Salah. The Egyptian forward takes Matip's pass in his stride and carries it towards goal but, just as he was about to pull the trigger, Keane made a brilliant recovery challenge to thwart his opponent.

EVERTON SUB! The match has become very tense all of a sudden - neither team wants to make a mistake of any sort. Silva is the first manager to blink by bringing on Richarlison for Walcott out wide.

Firmino has been stripped ready to come on. Word is that Klopp wanted to make the change a little earlier but the Brazilian forward couldn't find his shirt!

LIVERPOOL SUBS! Richarlison has injected some quality in the final third since coming on. Liverpool make a double change, with Milner and Firmino replacing Wijnaldum and the ineffective Origi in a couple of like-for-like changes.

Van Dijk, under pressure from Calvert-Lewin, does well to guide the ball back to his goalkeeper. Both teams are lacking a spark in the final third, but the Reds now have their favoured front three on the field - will that make any difference?

CHANCE!  Liverpool hit their opponents on the counter through Firmino, Salah and Mane. Firmino and Salah exchange passes and the former swings the ball towards Mane at the back post, but his header across goal is aimed to nobody in particular.

CHANCE!  The pressure is growing on the Liverpool goal of a sudden as Everton enjoy a spell on the ball. Richarlison is picked out in the middle but he cannot generate enough power on his header, which is aimed right at Alisson.

CHANCE!  The chances are starting to come thick and fast now. A cross towards the back post is headed across goal by Van Dijk, but Fabinho cannot set himself for the shot. The ball hits the midfielder's knee and Digne recovers the block the shot when it does arrive.

Richarlison and Milner have shots blocked at either end of the field as the game becomes more and more stretched. Liverpool have created the better chances today but Everton could easily snatch victory at this rate.

Richarlison breaks clear down the right and sends the ball into the middle. Bernard is waiting for it in front of goal but it is just out of his reach. That is pretty much as close as the Toffees have come to scoring a breakthrough goal.

EVERTON SUB! With his side starting to grow in confidence, Silva brings on Tosun for Calvert-Lewin. Robertson barges into Richarlison and the referee reaches into his pocket to show the full-back a yellow card.

This game is incredibly cagey - no surprise when the stakes are so high. This would not exactly be a disastrous result from Liverpool's perspective, but two dropped points will mean that the title is no longer in their own hands.

YELLOW CARD!  Gomes knocks the ball past Fabinho and is then clattered by the midfielder, who is looking increasingly frustrated. For the third time today, the referee dishes out a yellow card. There are now just 10 minutes to play on Merseyside.

A couple of sloppy passes from Liverpool over the last couple of means suggests that they may be out of ideas, as they were at Old Trafford last week. Everton fans will not need reminding that the game panned out this way at Anfield three months ago, before Origi struck in added time.

Pickford takes his time over a free kick. You get the impression that Everton will be the happier of the two sides to hear the full-time whistle. That is not to suggest they will sit back - a cross from the left is punched to safety by Alisson.

The final ball is again lacking from Liverpool, with Mane this time guilty of giving it away. I take back what I said about Everton being happy for full time - they are committing bodies forward in search of a dramatic winner.

CLOSE!  Matip rises highest to get on the end of a right-sided corner, which he heads into the ground and wide of the target. Klopp turns to his bench for the final time today, bringing on Lallana for Mane.

Everton are living very dangerously now. The ball bounces around in the box but nobody in a red shirt can strike it goalwards. With three minutes to go, it is looking as though it is going to be one of those days for Liverpool.

Everton (six) have had more shots (four) than Liverpool in the second half. A sloppy touch from Alexander-Arnold allows Digne to steal the ball and he is caught by the Reds' full-back just outside the box. Everton supporters want a penalty but contact was made outside the area.

Digne takes the free-kick, curling it over everyone in the box and out of play. We are now into the final minute of normal time and this one remains finely poised.

Some good play between Robertson and Lallana out wide ends in a disappointing manner as the cross into the box is collected by Pickford. Three minutes have been added on here, the first of which has been played.

FULL TIME:  EVERTON 0-0 LIVERPOOL

Liverpool's title hopes take another major hit as they are held to a 0-0 draw by city rivals Everton. Salah wasted the best opportunity of the game half an hour in when denied by Pickford from a one-on-one position. Both teams created a couple of chances either side of that miss, but neither could find a way through at Goodison Park.

That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events from this goalless Merseyside derby. Be sure to join us again in midweek as we bring you updates from the big Champions League and Europa League matches taking place. See you then!