LIVERPOOL VS. CRYSTAL PALACE

| Saturday, April 24th |
Premier League | Anfield
3PM BST/10AM EST

Crystal Palace have lost their most important players and yet remain a challenging opponent, largely due to the depth and strength-of-system that Oliver Glasner — who will be departing at the end of the season — has built. Liverpool know this all too well having lost three times to Palace in all competitions, with the Eagles looking to make Saturday’s kick-off an unprecedented fourth win against the league title holders. Though they have done the league double against Liverpool before, they’ve never managed it against the league title holders (at least in the Premier League era).

Palace are unbeaten in the Premier League since March 1st against Manchester United, which is quite some achievement. They’re 13th on the Premier League table on 43 points, and have progressed in the UEFA Conference League — though they have had a reprieve from midweek games this past week, they did draw with West Ham on Monday night and have a Thursday night kick-off against Shakhtar Donetsk to look forward to this week. The Eagles have three wins in their last five, and their one “loss” was a 2-1 away second leg to Fiorentina, and they progressed on aggregate.

Their danger in attack is a familiar one for the Reds: Ismaïla Sarr has scored seven times against Liverpool, a goal tally that puts the Reds second in his “favorite opponents” list behind Aston Villa, who have conceded eight to him. Most worryingly, Sarr has managed five goals in his last four outings against the Reds in all competitions.

They’ve been decent defensively this season, having kept 12 clean sheets thus far in the league, four of these taking place since they lost captain and centerback Marc Guehi to Manchester City. Their Premier League record for clean sheets is 15, so they have a real chance of meeting or bettering their best performance to date if they have a strong final run in (with the caveat that their attention might well be in Europe).

In terms of team fitness, Adam Wharton, who was withdrawn against Fiorentina, will be available for selection on Saturday. Nathaniel Clyne is thus the only new player doubtful for Glasner’s side, who have relatively few injury concerns despite their crowded fixture list. They remain without Cheick Doucouré, Edward Nketiah, and Evann Guessand, with the latter complaining of a knee issue following the first leg win against Fiorentina. Cheick Doucouré is returning to fitness following a long-term knee injury last year, has been playing for the U21s as he regains fitness, but it’s unlikely he’ll be available for any serious minutes against Liverpool.

Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Alisson; Bradley, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Wirtz, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Ekitike, Gakpo

It’s funny how beating Everton in the first Merseyside Derby at their new ground will make you forget that the side has lost four in the last seven, but here we are, optimistic. Form has been slightly better than in the previous run, particularly if you remove the two losses against PSG: Liverpool have won six of the last 10 in the Premier League (D1 L3), which is a massive improvement on the previous 18 (W5 D6 L7). That said, a win on Saturday would be just the fourth time the Reds won three league matches in a row.

The Reds will start with their third-choice keeper Freddie Woodman, who made his league debut in the derby, due to injuries to Alisson and Georgi Mamardashvili. The other long-term injuries remain unchanged, though with Hugo Ekitiké a recent addition to the sidelines.

Given the week’s rest between matches, Arne Slot will likely have fewer fitness concerns than he dealt with in the most resent run. Jeremie Frimpong is likely to start at right back with Miloš Kerkez on the left and Ibrahima Konaté and Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk making up the center of defense. Slot has decisions to make in midfield and attack, though. He made the big call to drop Alexis Mac Alliser for the derby, and that decision paid off. Slot always feels likely to pick Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szooboszlai, and Mac Allister when possible, but playing Florian Wirtz a bit deeper or starting Curtis Jones is certainly an option.

In attack, it seems like a no-brainer to start Mohamed Salah after his good form in the derby. The Egyptian has certainly earned a right for a farewell tour in these final games. Joining Salah will be a two-man combination of Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo, and the aforementioned Wirtz, with young Rio Ngumoha looking to come in off the bench.

Though the long-term injuries have limited Slot’s decision-making, Liverpool nonetheless move into the final run-in with a team capable on paper of doing serious damage.

The Managers Have Their Say

Arne Slot: “I’ve watched, with my staff, quite a lot of games – as we always do – of these teams but probably now a bit more to find ways of creating chances against them. It doesn’t matter which game but you’re watching 60 minutes of football and you haven’t seen the other team creating a chance yet against them. And then on the other end they are very direct in their playing style with good attackers going quite fast in behind your last line. So, I think they have conceded, after Arsenal, the least goals, so that tells you a lot and there’s a reason for that because they hardly concede a chance.”

Oliver Glasner: “Anfield is such an amazing stadium, the atmosphere is great. And, of course, it’s playing still the reigning Premier League champion. It’s always a big challenge and we always want to have the challenges against the best teams in the world. They went up to the quarter-finals in the Champions League so that’s why it’s a big challenge. But this is exactly what we want and this is exactly what helps us to improve. Then we get, let’s say, the mirror of what things we’re doing really well and things we have to improve or we don’t do well. All these games help us to develop and progress as a team, and that’s why we’re really always enjoying these kind of games.”

The Officials

Referee: Andy Madley Assistants: Simon Bennett, Craig Taylor Fourth official: Paul Tierney VAR: Neil Davies Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis

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