Portsmouth v Liverpool

Portsmouth centre-back Sol Campbell, who had groin and hamstring problems, and striker Benjani Mwaruwari (neck) are back.
Recent midfield signing Papa Bouba Diop is also in line to make his debut.
Liverpool expect to have centre-back Jamie Carragher available after a broken rib, while defender Steve Finnan is battling to overcome a knee injury.
Steven Gerrard's broken toe will be assessed after his two outings for England but he should be available.

Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Utaka, Muntari, Davis, Taylor, Kanu, Benjani, Lauren, Kranjcar, Mendes, Diop, Nugent, Pamarot, Traore, Hughes, Ashdown.
Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Hyypia, Riise, Pennant, Benayoun, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Sissoko, Babel, Kuyt, Crouch, Torres, Voronin, Finnan, Itandje.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp:"Liverpool have quality players in every position. They could field two teams that would comfortably survive in the Premier League.

"He (Benitez) has done well in the summer. They can rotate between Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel, Andrei Voronin and Fernando Torres - all terrific talents - up front.
"I haven't got that type of quality, that strength in depth. I have to pick my best team."
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez on Fernando Torres:"Fernando should be pleased but we also have to tell him to keep working hard.
"It is not always going to be as easy as he thinks it is at the moment and we need to wait and see what happens in a month or two.
"He will find out there are some very difficult central defenders to play against but the fact he has scored already is important because goals give all strikers confidence."

Predictable Fact
Liverpool go into a weekend round of Premier League matches at the top of the table for the first time in five years. It's also a new experience for manager Rafael Benitez.
This is Portsmouth's sixth fixture of the season and their fourth against one of the so called "Big Four".

While Liverpool are looking to complete three Premier League victories in a row for the first time in 17 outings, Portsmouth are aiming to avoid three league defeats on the trot for the first time in 53, since March last year.
The Merseysiders are the only club to have scored first in all their Premier League games this season; Pompey are the only club to have conceded the opening goal in all of their games in this league this term.
Pompey beat a weakened Liverpool side 2-1 in April. It was only their second maximum in eight Premier League fixtures with the Reds.

Statistic
PORTSMOUTH
1. Won one of their five Premier League matches this season, and one of the last seven; 3-1, home to Bolton on 18 August.
2. Averaging a point a game (five from five).
3. Yet to keep a clean sheet in this Premier League season.
4. The only club to have allowed the opposition to score first in all their Premier League games this term.
5. Gained just one point from the nine available against the "Big Four"; drew 1-1, home to Manchester United, and lost away to Chelsea and Arsenal so far.
6. Defeat would make it their worst run in the Premier League since suffering four defeats in a row between 4 February and 4 March 2006.
7. Undefeated in six home Premier League matches; won four and drawn two since losing 0-2 to Chelsea on 3 March.
8. Lost one of the last nine league outings at Fratton Park.

LIVERPOOL
1. Won the last three in all competitions with an aggregate of 12-0; 0-2, away to Sunderland (PL), 4-0, home to Toulouse (CL) and 6-0, home to Derby (PL).
2. Undefeated in six this season; won five and one draw in all competitions.
3. One of four clubs still holding an unbeaten Premier League record. The others are Arsenal, Blackburn and Newcastle.
4. The only club with double figures in the Premier League "Goals For" column (11). That's one every 33 minutes on average.
5. A win would make it their best run since notching five league victories on the trot between 30 December 2006 and 30 January 2007.
6. Made their best start to a Premier League season since 1998-99. Victory would give them 13 points after the first five matches, and make it their best ever start in this league.
7. Dropped only two points. Only Arsenal have dropped so few. Also, they are holding the highest Premier League points per game average, equal with Arsenal of 2.5.
8. Newcastle are the only other club yet to concede the opening goal in a Premier League match.
9. Yet to concede a league goal in open play so far this season. The goals they let in away to Aston Villa and home to Chelsea were both scored from the penalty spot. Not conceded in 208 minutes (three hours 28 minutes) of Premier League football, since Frank Lampard's spot-kick equaliser on 19 August.
10. This match precedes the Champions League Group A opener, away to FC Porto of Portugal on Tuesday

PORTSMOUTH
Nwankwo KANU, Benjamin MWARUWARI, Noe PAMAROT and John UTAKA are Portsmouth's joint top scorers, with two goals each. All of those goals were scored in the Premier League, with the exception of PAMAROT'S pair.
KANU is one shy of 50 career League goals in England.
If he plays:-
Dave NUGENT will be making his 100th career league appearance (Bury, Preston and Portsmouth).
Goalkeeper David JAMES will be making his 137th consecutive Premier League appearance (Manchester City and Portsmouth).
JAMES will be facing a former club. The 37 year old England keeper made 277 appearances for Liverpool (214 in the Premier League) between July 1992 and June 1999, when transferred to Aston Villa for £1.8m.
Djimi TRAORE will also be facing former club mates. The Mali international defender made 141 appearances (88 in the Premier League) and scored one goal for the Merseysiders between February 1999 and his £2m move to Charlton in August 2006.
Linvoy PRIMUS will be participating the day after turning 34.
LIVERPOOL
Fernando TORRES and Andriy VORONIN are Liverpool's joint top scorers with three each. All three from TORRES were in the Premier League.
If he plays:-
Peter CROUCH is a former Portsmouth player. He made 39 appearances (37 in the League) and scored 19 goals (18 League) for Pompey between July 2001 and his £5m move to Aston Villa in March 2002.

HEAD TO HEAD
Liverpool have won half of the Premier League meetings with Portsmouth (four of eight), but only lead the south coast club by two victories in the all-time league head-to-head standings.
Home and awayLeague (inc PL): Portsmouth 19 wins, Liverpool 21, Draws 14Prem: Portsmouth 2 wins, Liverpool 4, Draws 2
at Portsmouth onlyLeague (inc PL): Portsmouth 15 wins, Liverpool 8, Draws 4Prem: Portsmouth 2 wins, Liverpool 2, Draws 0

LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
Portsmouth 2-1 Liverpool28 April 2007 - Ref: Peter WaltonPortsmouth scorers: Mwaruwari 27, Kranjcar 32Liverpool scorer: Hyypia 59

REFEREE
Mike Riley (Leeds, Yorkshire)

Liverpool v Derby

BIG-MATCH FACTS
These clubs could be top and bottom of the Premier League table at the full time whistle.

Unbeaten Liverpool are yet to concede a goal from open play this season, and are the only club to have scored first in all their Premier League matches.

Derby, humiliated by Blackpool in the Carling Cup midweek, are the only club without a Premier League win, and are yet to score on their league travels.

The Merseysiders, who qualified for the Champions League group stages with a 4-0 home win over Toulouse on Tuesday night, have made their best start to a league season in five years; failure to win for the Rams would make it their worst ever start to a Premier League campaign.

Derby's only Premier League victory at Anfield was 1-2 on 7 November 1998, when Kevin Harper and Paulo Wanchope were on target.


CLUB FORM
LIVERPOOL


Club stats
Fixtures
1. One of five clubs still holding an unbeaten Premier League record. The others clubs are Arsenal, Blackburn, Chelsea and Newcastle.

2. Won two of their three league fixtures, and three points off the pace.

3. Last picked up seven points out of the first available nine in the 2002-03 season when they went on to finish fifth. They've only bagged 10 points from the first four outings twice; in 1994-95 when finishing fourth, and 1998-99 when ending seventh.

4. Already fourth in the table. It took until 9 December to reach that last year, and 3 December the previous year.

5. Unbeaten in four Premier League games. Won two and drawn two since losing 1-0, away to Fulham on 5 May.

6. One of three clubs to have dropped as few as two Premier League points so far. The others are Arsenal and Chelsea.

7. Drawn the last two home league games, and unbeaten in five at Anfield; won three and drawn two since losing 0-1 to Manchester United on 3 March.

8. The defeat against the Red Devils was their only home league loss last season and their only defeat in 36 Premier League matches at Anfield.

9. Lost two of 46 home league games.

10. Conceded more penalties in Premier League matches this season than any other club, with the exception of Sunderland. Both have had two spot kicks awarded against them.

DERBY COUNTY


Fixtures
1. Lost three of their four Premier League matches, and two points adrift at the foot.

2. Battling to avoid a fourth successive league defeat.

3. Never had less than four points from the first five games of a Premier League season.

4. Completed 171 league games since last losing four on the bounce, on 1 November 2003 (second tier).

5. On their longest losing run in the Premier League since suffering seven in a row near the end of the relegation campaign six seasons ago. That run ended with a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool and 0-1 home loss to Leeds on 27 April 2002.

6. Dropped more points (11) and conceded more league goals (nine, at one every 40 minutes on average) than any other club in the Premier League.

7. Already lost twice on the road (1-0 at Manchester City, and 4-0 at Tottenham). They are one of four clubs yet to pick up a point on their Premier League travels; the other clubs are Bolton, Fulham and Tottenham.

8. They are also one of four clubs yet to score away from home in the Premier League. The others are Aston Villa, Reading and Tottenham.

9. Still hunting a first win in the Premier League since the 1-3 victory over Bolton at the Reebok on 16 March 2002. Drawn two and lost 10 of the 12 subsequent outings at this level.

10. Billy Davies is still one short of 100 victories as a manager in English and Scottish league football.


KEY PLAYER NOTES
LIVERPOOL


No Liverpool player has scored more than one Premier League goal so far this season.

Dirk KUYT and Andriy VORONIN are the clubs' joint top scorers with two each.

If he plays:-

Jose REINA will be keeping goal the day after turning 25.


DERBY COUNTY


Matthew OAKLEY is Derby's top scorer with two Premier League goals.

If he plays:-

Mitchell HANSON will be participating on the eve of his 19th birthday.


HEAD TO HEAD
Liverpool have won exactly twice as many league matches against Derby than they have lost (won 64, lost 32).

The Merseysiders did the double over the Rams when they last locked horns in 2001-02, and are on an unbeaten run of six Premier League matches against them (won five, drawn one).

Derby's victory nine years ago, is their only maximum in 20 league trips to Anfield, spanning 36 years.

Home and away
League (inc PL): Liverpool 64 wins, Derby 32, Draws 28
Prem: Liverpool 8 wins, Derby 3, Draws 1

at Liverpool only
League (inc PL): Liverpool 41 wins, Derby 6, Draws 15
Prem: Liverpool 4 wins, Derby 1, Draws 1


REFEREE
Alan Wiley (Burntwood, Staffordshire)