Town boss Kieran McKenna hands Jaden Philogene his full Blues debut as he makes five changes to his team for this afternoon’s game at Liverpool.
Philogene, who signed from Aston Villa earlier in the month and came on as a sub against Manchester City, comes in for Jack Clarke, who is left out of the 20-man squad, but is fit, alongside Omari Hutchinson behind central striker Liam Delap.
In central midfield, skipper Sam Morsy is joined by Kalvin Phillips with Jens Cajuste rested and out of the squad due to his recent heavy workload with the club continuing to manage his knee.
Wes Burns replaces Ben Johnson wide on the right with Leif Davis on the left, while Axel Tuanzebe makes his first start since suffering a hamstring injury at Nottingham Forest at the end of November on the right of the defence with Ben Godfrey among the subs.
Dara O’Shea continues in the middle with Jacob Greaves coming in for Cameron Burgess, who is left out of the 20. Julio Enciso is on the bench having joined on loan from Brighton.
Liverpool also make five changes from the team which beat Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Trent Alexander-Arnold all return to the XI, with Curtis Jones missing out having picked up a knock.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk (c), Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Alister, Szoboszlai, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz. Subs: Kelleher, Endo, Nunez, Chiesa, Elliott, Tsimikas, Danns, Quansah, Bradley.
Town: Walton, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy (c), Phillips, Burns, Hutchinson, Jaden, Delap. Subs: Muric, Johnson, Townsend, Godfrey, Taylor, Luongo, Enciso, Broadhead, Hirst. Referee: Michael Salisbury (Preston). VAR: Paul Tierney.