Lancashire

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport senior journalist

Liverpool, unbeaten in their past 11 games in all competitions, face a relegation-threatened Burnley side whose most recent league win was back in October.

The Reds have only lost one of their nine Premier League home matches in this fixture, though that defeat in January 2021 came in the only previous season they hosted Burnley as reigning champions.

Reds more functional than fluent

Reigning league champions Liverpool are enjoying their longest run without defeat for a year but they are accruing points without reaching the performance levels of last season.

They go into the weekend's fixtures 14 points behind leaders Arsenal and eight adrift of Aston Villa in third.

Liverpool scored 86 goals during their title-winning campaign but are yet to replicate that firepower as head coach Arne Slot experiments with finding a system to best suit his expensively remodelled front line.

No side in the current top eight has scored fewer league goals this season than Liverpool, who are averaging their fewest shots per game since 2001-02. They are also failing to create the volume and quality of chances they did in 2024-25 and lack the counter-attacking potency of last season.

There are, at least, encouraging signs of a blossoming partnership on the pitch between Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike. After a difficult start to his Liverpool career, Wirtz has scored three goals and provided two assists in his past six matches, while leading scorer Ekitike has six goals in seven appearances.

They set up each other's goals after coming off the bench against Barnsley in the FA Cup.

Will Burnley avoid unwanted milestone?

Burnley's emphatic 5-1 FA Cup win against Championship promotion contenders Millwall was the Clarets' first victory in 11 weeks and followed an encouraging top-flight draw against Manchester United.

Nonetheless, Parker admitted the Premier League is "a different level" and it is one that his side has struggled with to date. Only Wolves have fewer than Burnley's three wins and only West Ham have conceded more goals.

Burnley, eight points from safety, are on the cusp of the third-longest winless run in their top-flight history - and longest since 1970.

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has confirmed he is preparing for Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong to return to the club before the end of the Championship season.

The 18-year-old was recalled by the Toffees on New Year's Day to cover for a depleted squad, but the North End boss still harbours hope that the Liverpudlian will return to complete his loan spell at Deepdale.

"I'm preparing for him to come back," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"It's not down to me. You hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

"If something happens with Harrison and he doesn't come back, we need to fill that one [spot in the squad]."

In a boost to the squad, defender Lewis Gibson will be in contention for Saturday's Championship home game against Derby County (15:00 GMT).

The 25-year-old has missed 14 league games with a thigh injury but played 45 minutes on his return to action in Friday's FA Cup defeat by Wigan.

"He's trained now - when we get to the Derby game - for almost a month," Heckingbottom added. "He's in a good place, he's happy.

"You can see when someone's not considering the previous injury in how they are playing in training so yeah, he's fine."

Listen to the full interview and more Preston North End content on BBC Sounds.

Huzaifah Khan
BBC Sport journalist

Burnley boss Scott Parker has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Liverpool at Anfield (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Parker says defender Joe Worrall is "close" to returning from injury and the club will make a call on his fitness this weekend, while forward Zian Flemming is out but could be back for the next match.

• He added that "everyone else is fit and well coming off the back of a big block of games".

• He says it is a "huge boost" to have Hannibal Mejbri back after he returned from the Africa Cup of Nations last week. "He's a passionate guy, a real driver. It's an ongoing process and we need to tame a little bit and understand the animal we're working with," Parker said.

• On how the mood is in the dressing room after recent positive results against Manchester United and Millwall: "We're positive like we always have been but, of course, the mood's probably a little bit better after the results."

• Parker was asked whether the club are working to making signings in the last weeks of the January transfer window: "We're hoping to. I think I always say there are so many different variables in that. We're active and trying to do that. It's a tough window, this window. It's a short window and right in the middle of the season."

• On how much the reverse fixture against Liverpool hurt after conceding so late: "I'm not one that often looks back. It was a positive performance from us and one, of course, that hurt at the back end of such a late goal to go in. We can take massive positives from that performance playing against a world-class team and we know the challenges we face going to Anfield as well."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news.

This fixture dates back to the very first Football League season when Preston won both games on their way to an unbeaten campaign which saw them crowned England's first champions.

Derby finished that season third from bottom and had to apply for re-election.

• Preston are looking for their first league double over Derby since the 2020-21 campaign following their 1-0 win earlier this season.

• Derby County have lost just one of their past 10 away league matches against Preston North End (W5 D4), going down 3-0 in 2020-21.

• Since the start of November, only Watford (1) have lost fewer Championship games than Preston North End (2), while only Ipswich (28) and the Hornets (26) have won more points in that time than the Lilywhites (24).

• Derby have scored in each of their past 16 Championship matches, the longest ongoing run of any side. It is their best run of scoring at this level since an 18-game run between December 2019 and July 2020.

• Derby County have faced 75 shots more than they have had themselves when they have been drawing in Championship games this season which is the worst differential of any side when level.

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United striker Patrick Bamford and Norwich forward Jovon Makama have been nominated for the Championship's player of the month award for December along with Preston goalkeeper Daniel Iversen and Leicester midfielder Bobby De Cordova-Reid.

Bamford signed an 18-month contract with Sheffield United earlier this month having initially joined on a short-term deal in November.

The 32-year-old has scored six goals in 11 appearances for the Blades, including four in December.

Norwich's Makama is the Canaries' leading scorer this season with 12 goals in all competitions.

He scored twice in a victory over Southampton last month, once in a draw at Preston and the winner against Charlton - those goals worth a valuable seven points to a relegation-threatened Norwich side.

Iversen has kept eight clean sheets for Preston so far this season and vital saves against the leaders Coventry and Stoke in December helped the Lilywhites into fourth place.

With four goals in six games, meanwhile, De Cordova-Reid had a prolific December for Leicester as he scored in three successive matches.

The winner will be announced on Friday, 16 January.