Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to our coverage of Liverpool v Blackburn where the big news prior to kick-off is that there’s no Steven Gerrard in the Reds’ squad…

Gerrard is at Anfield and arrived with the rest of his team-mates earlier. The general discussion in the build-up was whether he’d start or have to make do with a place on the bench. Turns out there was a third scenario…

Just one change for Liverpool from the side that beat Burnley – Lazar Markovic comes in for Alberto Moreno.

The big blow for Blackburn is that they’re missing hamstring victim Josh King, their big goal threat. Jordan Rhodes, who Rovers signed for £8m, is on the bench.

Liverpool XI: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Lovren, Johnson, Markovic, Henderson, Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge

Blackburn XI: Eastwood, Henley, Baptiste, Kilgallon (c), Olsson, Marshall, Evans, Williamson, Conway, Cairney, Gestede

Correction to previous update – TWO changes for Liverpool today. Joe Allen also misses out and Glen Johnson starts in defence.

Remember Nathan Blake?

Have loved watching Coutinho in recent weeks – he’s certainly proved a genuine inspiration and he’s provided a spark and purpose that the side spent so much of the season lacking. Surely the key man for Liverpool again today though having watched them closely against Burnley, having Sturridge back gives them so much more. His movement and ability to twist away from defenders provides great attacking edge and he was desperately missed during that lengthy injury lay-off.

A big Blackburn crowd at Anfield, estimated at 6,000. They’ll make plenty of noise but difficult to see where their team’s creativity will come from.

Obvious references to Kenny Dalglish’s Premier League-winning Blackburn side in 1995 on BT Sport’s coverage. I fondly remember the following season when Graeme le Saux and David Batty had to be pulled apart during a Champions League game against Spartak Moscow…by Tim Sherwood. Great memories.

AND WE’RE OFF! 

Already Liverpool trying to stretch things and release Sterling down the left side. Worth noting that the sun is currently causing Mignolet problems and he’s not wearing a cap.

This looks very bad. Martin Skrtel challenges Gestede in the air and lands awkwardly, seemingly catching his head on the turf. Don’t want to speculate but lots of concerned looks as he’s tended to. He’s lying very still and let’s hope this looks worse than it is.

It looks like Kolo Toure is going to replace Skrtel, who has been moving his legs in the last few moments. Still very solemn faces watching on as the defender is placed on a stretcher.

Here’s a video of the incident. Pleas be advised that some people may find it unsettling.

Skrtel has been replaced by Toure but was moving around on the stretcher and the hope is that he’ll be okay.

I had mentioned earlier that Mignolet isn’t wearing a baseball cap and he was very nearly caught out moments ago as Blackburn lofted a set-piece towards the far post. The goalkeeper completely missed it and was fortunate that the guests couldn’t make more of it.

Apologies everyone. We’re having some technical issues so that’s why there haven’t been too many updates since the Skrtel incident. Some things that have cropped up since then include a potential injury to Coutinho (he was hobbling a short time ago but may be able to run it off) while Rovers have pushed Liverpool well with Glen Johnson almost putting through his own net a few moments ago.

Sorry, folks. Some things are out of your control sometimes! Anyway, we should be back to our best now. What have you missed in the last few minutes? Well, Liverpool are fortunate. They should be behind. They could’ve conceded a penalty when a cross to the far post dropped onto Sterling’s hand and was missed by the officials but then Craig Conway had a superb chance after some brilliant approach play but he skewed his effort wide of Mignolet’s near post. Good Cup tie, this.

Liverpool did have the ball in the net through substitute Toure but it was ruled out for offside. In the build-up, the ball seems to hit Gestede on the hand but no penalty.

Coutinho definitely is struggling. He tries his luck from long-range but it’s wild. Not sure if that injury I mentioned earlier is still affecting him but he hasn’t been involved and doesn’t look 100%.

Some great pressure from Rovers and Gary Bowyer has set them up really well. They’ve penned Liverpool back and Sterling has been forced to track back repeatedly as they stretch the hosts in wide areas. And Gestede has been a real handful – the Liverpool defence really struggling to contain him.

Sterling tracks back yet again as Rovers try to break and whip another dangerous cross into the area. But the attacker dives in and makes a superb challenge. A bit odd seeing him do such defensive work at Anfield though and very concerning for Brendan Rodgers.

BOOKING! There will be EIGHT minutes of added time at the end of the half because of the Skrtel incident so don’t go anywhere! Emre Can has just gone in the book after a cheeky pull-back when Blackburn raced clear on the counter and Rovers are pushing hard here.

Markovic breaks clear on Liverpool’s right and tries to drive in a shot towards goal. It takes a deflection on its way and it’s pretty simple for Simon Eastwood to gather. He’s had a fairly quiet first-half – not sure he’d have predicted that in advance.

They’ve got a plan, Blackburn, and they’re sticking to it. Another lofted cross to the far post to try and trouble Mignolet under the glare of the Merseyside sun. But he gets up and grabs it cleanly. Relatively speaking, he hasn’t done too badly. But I’m sure he’ll get stick from his manager and goalkeeping coach for not bringing a cap with him. Very risky.

CLOSE! Decent chances have been at a premium here but Daniel Sturridge swivels in the left channel, engineers a yard of space and fires the shot towards Eastwood’s near post. It’s really travelling but Eastwood beats it away and the defence clears its lines.

AND THAT’S HALF-TIME!

Good going from Blackburn. I’ve been impressed by their setup and Gary Bowyer has certainly won the tactical battle so far. They’re solid and dogged and not allowing pockets of space open up around the likes of Coutinho and Sturridge. Meanwhile, with Rovers stretching things on the counter, they’ve asked numerous defensive questions of Raheem Sterling who has had to race back, harry, harass and dig in as Rovers push down the right side especially.

They had a superb chance when Conway blazed over and could’ve had a penalty when the ball hit Sterling’s hand after a looping cross to the far post. Plenty of things to feel encouraged about if you’re a Rovers fan but as Sturridge showed late in the first half, just a little bit of inspiration can change things.

Also, Skrtel is okay after being stretchered off after just a few minutes. There was plenty of concern but he gave the fans a thumbs-up when leaving the pitch.

Teams are back out for the start of the second half. Let’s hope for more of the same. It’s been very enjoyable so far.

AND WE’RE BACK UNDERWAY! 

No pesky sun to trouble Mignolet anymore so Blackburn will have to offer something more from their set-pieces other than a high, lofted ball to the far post.

Right. Well, there have been some more technical issues unfortunately! Sincerest apologies everyone. But sometimes websites don’t co-operate like they should!

Well. That’s embarrassing, isn’t it? Sorry folks – we had a technical storm again just as the second half got underway and we’ve only just got everything back under control. Apologies for how that affected the liveblog coverage but sometimes things are out of our control. Thanks for staying with us and we’ll have plenty of reaction to the 0-0 stalemate on the site momentarily.