Derby bragging rights will be at stake when Everton Ladies face their local rivals Liverpool Women in Sunday's Women's Super League contest at Walton Hall Park.
The Toffees are sitting in ninth place in the WSL table, while their Merseyside rivals are currently residing in fifth position.
Match preview
Everton will head into the Merseyside derby off the back of a three-game losing run, which began with a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.
The Toffees then fell to a narrow 1-0 loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals, before experiencing another disappointing result in last Saturday's away league meeting with Aston Villa.
After playing out a goalless first half, Everton conceded two goals in the opening stages of the second period to leave them with an uphill task.
Although Elise Stenevik managed to halve the deficit in the 85th minute, it ultimately proved too little too late for the Toffees as they fell to their 10th defeat of the WSL season.
They will now turn their focus to Sunday's crucial derby clash at Goodison Park, where they will have the chance to complete a league double over their local rivals after recording a narrow 1-0 win in October's reverse league fixture.
After being eliminated in the FA Cup quarter-finals by Man City, Liverpool bounced back with a comfortable 3-1 win in last Sunday's home meeting with West Ham.
Leanne Kiernan, Missy Bo Kearns and Sophie Roman Haug all got on the scoresheet, before Riko Ueki netted a late consolation, as the Reds eased to a third consecutive WSL victory.
Having taken 10 points from their last four league games, Matt Beard's side currently sit in fifth position and level on 28 points with Manchester United.
After experiencing success on home turf last weekend, Liverpool will now make the short trip to Goodison Park, where they will continue to claim another away victory, having won three of their previous four league matches on the road.
The visitors can draw confidence from the fact that they have already claimed an away win over Everton this season, with goals from Haug and Yana Daniels proving enough to secure a 2-1 win in December's League Cup meeting at Walton Hall Park.
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Team News
Everton remain without the services of Emily Ramsey, Sara Holmgaard and Karoline Olesen due to their respective injury issues.
Stenevik will be forced to miss the Merseyside derby through suspension after she was sent off in stoppage time in the defeat to Aston Villa.
Katrine Veje and Karen Holmgaard are likely to return to the squad, but the pair are only fit to play a late role from the bench.
As for the visitors, midfielder Sofie Lundgaard is set to miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a knee injury in the win over West Ham last weekend.
The Reds are also still unable to call upon the services of full-back Taylor Hinds, who is expected to return to team training next week.
Japan international Fuka Nagano is poised to return to the squad after missing the last two matches with a hamstring issue.
Everton Ladies possible starting lineup:
Brosnan; Hope, Vanhaevermaet, Finnigan; Galli, Bennison, Wheeler, Kuhl; Bissell, Snoeijs, Piemonte
Liverpool Women possible starting lineup:
Laws; Clark, Fahey, Fisk; Koivisto, Hobinger, Kearns, Holland, Matthews; Kiernan, Haug
We say: Everton Ladies 1-2 Liverpool Women
Everton have lost six of their last seven league matches, while Liverpool have recorded three successive WSL victories, and we think that the in-form side will do enough to claim derby bragging rights at Goodison Park.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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