Agger back for Liverpool

Liverpool defender Daniel Agger made his first appearance in almost a month while January signing Maxi Rodriguez was given his first taste of a Merseyside derby.

Agger replaced Martin Skrtel at centre-back after recovering from a calf injury while Rodriguez, brought in from Atletico Madrid on a free transfer, was deployed on the left of midfield in place of Albert Riera.

Manager Rafael Benitez’s third change from the team which beat Bolton last weekend was to bring back midfielder Lucas Leiva and drop Alberto Aquilani to the bench.

The only alteration for Everton, who have not won at Anfield since 1999, from the win at Wigan was the return of Sylvain Distin at the expense of Philippe Senderos.

Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Agger, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Maxi, Ngog. Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Riera, Aurelio, Babel, Degen, Skrtel.

Everton: Howard, Neville, Distin, Heitinga, Baines, Fellaini, Donovan, Osman, Cahill, Pienaar, Saha. Subs: Nash, Bilyaletdinov, Arteta, Yakubu, Senderos, Anichebe, Coleman.

Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)