Premier League games will take place without fans for the rest of the season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Everton will be allowed to host city rival Liverpool at Goodison Park instead of playing at a neutral venue when the rivals meet on June 21.
Police had initially believed the Merseyside derby could not be staged in Liverpool because of fears that fans would congregate outside.
Premier League games will take place without fans for the rest of the season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The decision to play the (derby) game at the Club’s home stadium was made today by the local Ground Safety Advisory Group following positive discussions between the Club, Liverpool City Council, Merseyside Police, The Everton Fans’ Forum, The Blue Union, Liverpool Football Club and Spirit of Shankly,” Everton said in a statement on their website.
“Building on the magnificent community work both sets of fans have done throughout this pandemic, we are confident that supporters of these two great clubs will respect safety advice about avoiding visiting stadia where home and away fixtures are taking place,” they said in a statement published on Liverpool’s website.
“We fully understand the importance of lockdown as a measure to control COVID-19 and would encourage fans to stay away from any stadium and avoid congregating in numbers,” they added.
The Ground Safety Advisory Group in Liverpool says Anfield and Goodison Park can now be used for Liverpool and Everton matches.
Liverpool could clinch the trophy by beating Everton if Manchester City loses to Arsenal on June 17.
Liverpool Deputy Mayor Wendy Simon says “we are confident the measures in place will allow the matches to be held behind closed doors without any detrimental impact to all concerned and recommend to the city council that the safety certificates for both grounds be amended to allow this to happen.”
