Pep Lijnders is set to take charge of Liverpool this afternoon in their crucial clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The 38-year-old Dutchman is Jurgen Klopp's assistant at Anfield and with the Reds boss having recently returned a suspected positive Covid test, he will be isolating for Sunday's showdown against the Blues.
Lijnders is set to take charge of the Liverpool first-team - and not for the first time, with the former Porto coach taking the responsibility in Carabao Cup games before now.
Many have tipped Lijnders to one day take over from Klopp, when he decides to leave his role at Liverpool, with the assistant said to have an incredible football brain.
Klopp himself has waxed lyrical about his assistant before. When speaking about Lijnders in 2018. He said: "It's good. It's very, very good. We sent him away for half a year (Lijnders went to NEC) to get very important experience and to have him back now just feels fantastic.
"When he came in the building, everybody was really delighted about that and was really happy about it.
"He is a fantastic person and a fantastic coach, so it is really important that we have him back and I am really looking forward to working together with him."
The Dutch coach, as mentioned above, has been touted to become Klopp's permanent successor and he revealed that he is looking to get back into management one day.
Lijnders, when speaking last month, said: "That’s the plan (to be a manager again). That is the plan but Jurgen knows this.
"This isn't the time to speak about these things because I have a contract until 2024. When the time comes, I will sit down with my management and will see the options I have.
"But we are in the middle of this project, this beautiful project, and after that I will decide. But definitely, yeah, that is the plan.
"This is not the moment to speak about these things (becoming Liverpool manager one day). I will speak with my management in 2024 and we will see all the options that are on the table."
