Sepp van den Berg eligible to face Reds in Carabao Cup tie

Liverpool have granted Preston North End permission to field Sepp van den Berg in Wednesday evening's Carabao Cup tie between the teams.

The 19-year-old is free to line up against his parent club for the fourth-round encounter at Deepdale, having made 17 appearances for the Lilywhites so far this term after re-joining on loan from the Reds in the summer.

“Yes, of course he should play,” Pepijn Lijnders told a pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “It’s like, if you want to be a chef, you need to spend a lot of time in the kitchen! So, what would our message be if we sent our players on loan to get good games and then there’s a good game coming and not letting them play?

“We want to give young players opportunities and for Sepp it is an amazing game. I am in contact with him, he looks forward to it and that’s probably the most important thing.

“It’s exactly what he needed; a young centre-half who is playing in a different position but is fighting in the Championship. If you can come out of that league you will be ready for a lot.

“We can’t wait to see him in pre-season next year.”

More on Liverpool FC