Liverpool vs Chelsea LIVE: Premier League result and final score after Diaz goal and Nkunku penalty appeal

Here come the players.

This should be a cracking match up at Anfield tonight. The Liverpool fans are in full voice and the atmosphere is booming around the ground.

Kick off is up next...

Jurgen Klopp is vying for a 200th Premier League win in his 318th match in charge. He would be the seventh manager to reach the milestone, with only Pep Guardiola doing so in fewer games.

Mauricio Pochettino’s only win in 12 league and cup matches as a manager against Jurgen Klopp was Tottenham’s 4-1 victory versus Liverpool at Wembley on 22 October 2017.

There was a moment when Billy Hogan contemplated the impossible task of replacing the man sat to his right and offered a reminder that Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, were football’s original Moneyballers. They were so fixed on the idea that John W Henry had tried to hire Billy Beane, the poster boy for baseball’s statistical approach to recruitment, to take charge of the Boston Red Sox. Some two decades later and on the other side of the Atlantic, Hogan reflected on the search for Jurgen Klopp’s successor.

“The way we operate as a football club is to make sure we look at all the information and all the data, we’ve done our proper due diligence, and then make a decision,” said Liverpool’s CEO. The charisma Hogan referenced can feel like Klopp’s most obvious quality now: the outgoing manager is very much a people person. Yet he is also a data darling: he famously steered Borussia Dortmund to the 2013 Champions League final on a wage bill less than that of Queens Park Rangers, who were relegated from the Premier League that season.

Liverpool have prospered at the numbers game under Klopp, perhaps winning less than they might have but punching above their financial weight. Following the numbers now could take them back to Germany: the most obvious candidate to take over, Xabi Alonso, could become the first manager since Klopp to win the Bundesliga with any club other than Bayern Munich and is found at Leverkusen, a mere 40 miles from Dortmund.

Cole Palmer has netted nine Premier League goals since opening his account on 7th October - only Mohamed Salah has scored more in that period (prior to Tuesday’s games).

Five of Palmer’s goals have been penalties.

Each of the Liverpool’s last nine Premier League goals have been scored in the second half of matches. They’ll be hoping to buck that trend tonight though picking up three points is more crucial.

Chelsea are in danger of conceding multiple goals in six consecutive Premier League away fixtures, which would equal a club record set in 2015.

Chelsea’s potential outgoings could dominate transfer deadline day with speculation over Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja’s futures at the club yet to subside.

West London rivals Fulham have been linked to Broja over the last few days of the January window, while England midfielder Gallagher has been linked with a move to Tottenham throughout the month.

Spurs have been one of the busier clubs in a seemingly quieter January transfer window so far, with Radu Dragusin and Timo Werner arriving in north London, but head coach Ange Postecoglou suggested on Tuesday it would be “unlikely” to see any more signings

Chelsea are vying to win four consecutive league fixtures for the first time since a similar run in September and October 2022.

They have won 18 Premier League games against teams starting the day top of the table, more than any other side in the competition’s history.

Liverpool have won a league-high 19 points from losing positions this season, three shy of their highest such figure in a Premier League campaign, set in 2008/09.

They are unbeaten in 14 top-flight games, with September’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham their only loss in 32 league matches.