Everton bring in Osman as Dunc on the bench

Everton boss David Moyes reverted to his tried and trusted first eleven for the 200th Merseyside derby with the return of Leon Osman to midfield with Duncan Ferguson back on the bench.

For the first time in 17 years, Everton held a nine point lead over their closest neighbours going into a derby clash, and victory here would give Liverpool a huge task to claim a Champions League spot.

For Rafael Benitez’s first derby, he left out fellow Spaniards Xabi Alonso and Antonio Nunez and opted for the more combative Salif Diao in midfield with Dietmar Hamann returning from suspension.

Milan Baros was ruled out to protect his suspect hamstrings with two more matches coming up next week. Neil Mellor and Florent Sinama-Pongolle, heroes of the midweek victory over Olympiacos, led the attack.