Liverpool 4-1 Stoke: Premier League – as it happened

A good win for Liverpool takes them back into second place, above Manchester City, who visit Anfield on Saturday (aka New Year's Eve), six points behind Chelsea. Thank you for joining me this afternoon. I hope you enjoy the rest of your festive holidays.

FULL TIME: Liverpool 4-1 Stoke City

Walters swings in an early cross but it is headed away easily by the Liverpool defence who have been relatively untroubled since Stoke took the lead early on. Liverpool win a corner and again it is taken short by Milner. Can gets in a cross but it is just too high for Wijnaldum.

Milner taking his time a throw in the Stoke corner. Some fairly disinterested passing going on now. Three minutes to be added.

Three minutes to go and Stoke know they are going home pointless and Liverpool will close the gap with Chelsea at the top of the table.

Substitution: Bony on for Crouch, who gets a very generous round of applause from the Anfield crowd. As Crouch heads to retirement, one of the last chances for my favourite Crouchy quote: Question: What would you have been if you weren't a footballer? Answer: A virgin.

Sturridge breaks into the right hand side of the box and cuts the ball back, but Henderson's shot hits one of his own players and the ball bobbles around before Liverpool claim a corner for their efforts. But that comes to nothing and Stoke almost break but Henderson stops that.

100 up for Klopp:

Substitution: Moreno on for Firmino, whose Boxing Day Plus was better than his Christmas Eve. Ten minutes to go. 4-1 to Liverpool.

Substitution: Afellay comes on for Diouf for Stoke and almost scores with what I think was his first touch, but the ball dips just over the Liverpool bar.

Thirteen minutes to go and Glen Johnson tries to roll back the years with a mazy run that manages to bobble the ball past a couple of his former teammates but comes to nothing.

Substitution: Stoke take off Whelan for Ramadan.

While that fourth Liverpool goal was mostly due to a woeful backpass by Shawcross, Sturridge still had to take the ball around the keeper which he did most calmly. Liverpool have scored three or more goals in eight of their 18 Premier League games this season.

GOAL! Sturridge! An awful backpass from Shawcross, finds only Sturridge and he finally scores his first Premier League goal since April. 4-1 to Liverpool.

Substitutions: Liverpool bring off Lallana and Origi and bring on Can and Sturridge.

Joe Allen has had his moments on his return to Anfield but for the most part he has been harried out of possession.

Milner again wriggles into the Stoke box and gets a looping cross to Clyne at the far post, but he's just off balance and can't quite muster the necessary power to beat the keeper. Halfway through the second half and Liverpool comfortable at 3-1.

A reasonable assessment of that third Liverpool goal:

Have Stoke got what it takes to get back into this? Not on current form, but it's a funny old game and a goal would possibly set Liverpool nerves jangling. Perhaps Hughes will bring on Bony to give City something a bit different. Or perhaps the former Man Utd star is resigned to yet another poor result at Anfield?

GOAL! Liverpool 3-1. Stoke fail to clear their lines, Origi passes the ball into the six yard box and Imbula gets to the ball just before Mane but deflects it into his own goal.

Lallana has a shot deflected wide for a corner. Another short corner and Liverpool keep up the pressure. Stoke eventually break free but their move comes to naught. And the ball is back with Liverpool. Just over half an hour to go. Still 2-1 to Liverpool.

Crouch gets the ball in the corner but miskicks and gives away a free kick. He grabs the corner flag and frustratedly pulls it out of the ground, drops it, then thinks better of it, picks it up again and puts it back in its rightful place. Crouch hasn't seen much of the ball lately. Oddly, for a very tall man, Crouch's best skills are at his feet.

Stoke have a promising attack but a great block by Milner stops Diouf at the cost of a corner...

Stoke have a free kick wide on the right but it floats long and hopelessly beyond all the players gathered in the Liverpool penalty area in front of the Kop.

Milner exchanges clever passes wide on the left and gets into the area and hits a right foot shot which is just too far beyond the far post.

Lallana feeds Firmino on the Liverpool left but they can't find a way through. Slightly scrappy opening couple of minutes to this first half. No team changes at half-time and no obvious formational switches either.

Stoke kicking from left to right in the very non-traditional pale blue.

And the teams are back out for the second half. Stoke take the restart...

The first half stats tell the story:

Anfield first-half joy:

Well, that was an entertaining first half. Klopp will presumably be much happier with Firmino's on-field contribution than his off-field headlines. Liverpool had more of the ball and came back strongly after surprisingly going behind. What do Stoke have for the second half? We will soon find out...

And that's half-time.

We're into three minutes of injury time and Mane snatches at a chance but it rolls just wide of the far post.

GOAL! Firmino scores. Firmino finds space in the Stoke area and drives left footed and the ball ricochets off the far post to the near post and into the goal. 2-1 to Liverpool.

Milner wriggles into space on the left hand side inside the Stoke area but his cross is grabbed by Grant. Five minutes to go in this first half. Stats update shows that Liverpool have had 81% of the possession in the last ten minutes.

Liverpool showing some intent and Lallana has a great opportunity ten yards out but sidefoots just over the bar.

GOAL! Lallana equalises. A nice break by Liverpool and the ball arrives in a packed goalmouth, where Lallana squeezes the ball home from a tight angle. 1-1.

Pieters breaks down the left again and gets into the Liverpool penalty area but his pass is just intercepted before any more damage can be done. Half-an-hour gone and still 1-0 to Stoke.

Diouf is back up and back on. Liverpool still having more of the ball, but a Stoke boot or head always seems to break it up just in time. Meanwhile, City look good on the break.

Diouf goes down injured but he might just be giving Stoke a moment to regroup. It was Firmino's shot that was cleared off the line by Crouch. There's a good amount of noise at Anfield – proper festive football atmosphere.

Lallana wriggles into the Stoke area and has a shot blocked (with a suggestion of hand), and after a short corner Liverpool have another chance but a shot is cleared off the line for another corner.

Halfway through the first half and we've had plenty of positivity and that goal has shaken it up a bit. A bit of bite in midfield too. Guardiola and Moyes sat in the stands scouring out their future opponents. Pep sporting a very nice flat cap.

Pieters created the goal and almost scored himself in that little passage of Stoke pressure. While Joe Allen did brilliantly with a little shimmy to almost set himself up for a second. Stoke coming out of their shell might, however, be good news for Liverpool.

Pieters does well to win a corner for Stoke, but the ball is poor and fails to beat even the first man and is cleared easily. Seventeen minutes gone and Stoke have weathered the early storm and almost score a second through former Red Joe Allen, but his shot is saved and the rebound doesn't quite fall to a Stoke boot.

That was a nice cross and a good header, but the Liverpool defence should have done better. Milner has a pot shot but it's way over the bar.

GOAL! Stoke seem to have caught up with the pace of this game and a cross comes across and reaches Walters, who flicks the ball from before the front post and it just evades the keeper.

Firmino floats a ball into the Stoke area but it is just too long for Milner breaking forward. Stoke finally have a chance to break and the ball swings into the Liverpool penalty area but is grasped by Mignolet before it reaches the towering figure of Crouch. Still 0-0 after 11 minutes.

Stoke are getting very deep in defence already, with five or six bodies on the edge of the area when Liverpool have the ball. The long goal kick goes straight to a red shirt and Liverpool build again. Firmino tries a shot from 20 yards but it clatters into a collection of legs and bounces away.

Liverpool are pressing high and Origi almost finds space in the box but can't find a way through a wall of pale blue. The ball is eventually and gratefully grasped by Stoke keeper Grant.

Milner takes it short to Wijnaldum, who works the ball across to Henderson who sidefoots it precisely but just over the top right corner of the bar.

Liverpool having the better of the early exchanges and win the first corner of the game.

Mane sends in a beautiful cross from the right, but it is just beyond the reach of Wijnaldum. Still 0-0.

Kick off! Liverpool take the kick off, playing from left to right as I look. A Liverpool throw in follows swiftly and a couple of early touches for Mignolet who has done well since returning to the starting line-up.

Liverpool are wearing their traditional all red strip today, and Stoke are looking very much like Man City in a pale blue strip.

The players are on the pitch and shaking hands.

Kick off coming up very soon. Here's a preview and you will notice that the bookies are very much behind Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp is being interviewed ahead of the game. He's not thinking about Man City apparently, because he's concentrating on Stoke City. Nothing more illuminating than that. But what else do we expect from a tunnel talk?

A sweet moment at Anfield:

Fifteen minutes to kick off and they're warming up at Anfield:

A harsh Twitter response to my Santa hat photo:

The builders are in at Anfield:

In true festive spirit, I'm liveblogging today's game in my Santa hat. Extra turkey sandwiches for anyone who can identify which team my Santa supports.

The Liverpool players are very smartly turned out for their Extra Boxing Day (what do we call today?) game:

A prediction via Facebook:

Shirley Howsen: My prediction 3-1 Liverpool X Chris predicts 2-0 Liverpool !!! Can't believe crouchy is 36 and mignolet in goal .., will he aimlessly wander off his line ??

So, those predictions from my colleagues were mostly backing Liverpool, but the great Oier Fano Dadebat thinks we will have a "Boxing Day" upset. What do you think? Share your thoughts via Twitter to @Busfield.

There's a very special guest at Anfield today:

Liverpool appear to be playing a 4-3-3 system today, while Stoke have given a starting place to the old beanpole himself, Peter Crouch, who will be 36 next month.

And here's the Stoke City line-up:

Here's the Liverpool line-up:

No team news yet, so I will return to the predictions, this time from my esteemed colleagues at IBT UK:

I should possibly make full disclosure before kick off that I am, in fact, a Port Vale supporter and thus, Stoke City are theoretically my mortal enemy. But, either age has mellowed me, or Stoke consistently punching above their weight has meant I admire their success. Anyway, I will attempt to be as independently objective as possible.

Time for some festive football predictions. I will come to the experts in a moment, but first, here are some fan predictions (admittedly from a Liverpool fan):

Not sure we're in for a 17 goal feast today, Laura.

If you'd like to share your predictions with IBT UK's readership, please tweet me @Busfield.

Before we get into the action, how is your Festive Season going? Did Santa bring you what you hoped for? Would the best Xmas gift be three points for Liverpool/Stoke (delete where applicable) at Anfield today?

Good afternoon and welcome to the build up and coverage of today's big Premier League game between Liverpool and Stoke City. We will have team news coming up shortly. And possibly some transport news too, as the Potters fans are apparently having some difficulties making their way the short distance between the two cities due to problems on the M6.