Alan Wiley of Staffordshire will referee the first Merseyside derby of the season as we make the short trip across Stanley Park to face Everton.

Despite refereeing us in 40 games this will be only the third Merseyside derby of his career. In February 2007 he was in the middle of our goalless draw at Anfield, then last season he took charge of the FA Cup Fourth round replay when a Gosling strike deep into extra time saw the Blues progress.

This season he has refereed both teams in the Premiership once before. In August he took charge of our 3-2 win at Bolton Wanderers and only a few weeks ago he refereed Everton's 2-1 win at West Ham United. He also refereed both our Carling Cup games this season.

He started refereeing back in 1981 through the West Midlands Regional League and became a Football League linesman ten years later. In 1994 he was promoted to run the line in The Premiership. He was then given the whistle in The Football League twelve months later.

He is one of three current referees who have refereed the FA Cup and League Cup Finals, achieving this three seasons ago by becoming the first referee to officiate both finals in the same season. He had already refereed Manchester United's 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic in the Carling Cup before he got the call to replace Mike Dean for the FA Cup Final between West Ham United and ourselves. Wiley classes that game as the best one he has ever officiated in.

His assistants are Shaun Procter-Green and Trevor Massey with Lee Mason as the fourth official. Andy Garrett was his official on Friday night at Bramhall Lane.

Some memorable matches involving Liverpool and Alan Wiley:
11th March 2001 - A trip to Birkenhead in the 6th round of the FA Cup saw us come away 4-2 winners at John Aldridge's Tranmere Rovers.
2nd March 2002 - Nicolas Anelka scores his only Liverpool goal away from Anfield as we triumph 2-0 at Craven Cottage. Jari Litmanen also scored his last Premiership goal for the reds in the game.
11th August 2002 - Arsenal win 1-0 in the newly renamed FA Community Shield in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Markus Babbel appeared for the first time after recovering from serious illness.
11th May 2003 - Chelsea win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in the last game of the season to claim the final Champions League spot. Gerrard was sent-off in the final minutes.
28th November 2004 - Neil Mellor scores a last minute winner against Arsenal.
5th February 2006 - Chelsea win 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Pepe Reina is sent off as Arjen Robben goes down like he's been hit by a sniper.
15th March 2006 - Robbie Fowler finally gets his first Liverpool goal since his return to Anfield in a 5-1 thrashing of Fulham.
13th May 2006 - One of the best FA Cup Finals ever sees us defeat West Ham United on penalties after a pulsating 3-3 draw.
26th August 2006 - Dirk Kuyt makes his Liverpool debut and Daniel Agger scores his first Liverpool goal in a 2-1 home win against West Ham United.
1st September 2007 - Derby County are trounced 6-0 at Anfield with Babel, Benayoun and Voronin all making their Anfield debuts. Babel scores his first Premiership goal and Voronin nets his first at home.
24th November 2007 - Lucas makes his first Premiership start as goals from Gerrard, Kuyt and Babel give us a 3-0 win at Newcastle.
30th January 2008 - Harry Kewell plays in his last Premiership game for Liverpool but a last minute Noble penalty gives West Ham all the points.
13th April 2008 - Gerrard scores in his 300th Premiership appearance, Torres hits his 30th goal for the season and Riise plays at Anfield for last time in the Premiership in a 3-1 win against Blackburn Rovers.
16th August 2008 - Robbie Keane and Andrea Dossena make their Premiership debuts for Liverpool in a 1-0 win at Sunderland.
18th October 2008 - Albert Riera scores his first Liverpool goal in a 3-2 home win against Wigan Athletic.
26th December 2009 - Robbie Keane scores his last Liverpool goal in a 3-0 home win against Bolton Wanderers.
4th February 2009 - A last minute goal in extra time from Gosling knocks us out of the FA Cup at Goodison Park.
14th March 2009 - Goals from Torres, Gerrard, Aurélio and Dossena cancel out a Ronaldo penalty to give us a 4-1 win at Old Trafford.
29th August 2009 - A late Gerrard strike earns all three points in a 3-2 win at Bolton Wanderers, in a game that saw the debut of Sotirios Kyrgiakos.
28th October 2009 - Emiliano Insúa scores his first goal for Liverpool as Alberto Aquilani and Nathan Eccleston make their debuts as substitutes in a 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at Arsenal.