We head to Selhurst Park today in need of a response after a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal followed by a 3-2 loss at Fenerbahce in midweek. Andoni Iraola’s side now sit on 15 points from nine league games. It’s hardly a crisis, but nobody wants three defeats on the spin.
This fixture hasn’t been kind to us lately. Palace beat us three times last season, in the Community Shield, the Premier League and the Carabao Cup, and Eddie Nketiah’s stoppage-time winner in September last year still stings.
The hosts are in a very different place now, though. Pierre Sage’s side are in the relegation zone with seven points from nine, and they’ve lost their last three in the league. Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off at Tottenham last weekend and is suspended, so Nketiah or Jorgen Strand Larsen will lead the line. Ismaila Sarr, who has scored seven times against us, is also out, which is a relief. They only drew 1-1 with Hoffenheim in Europe on Thursday, so legs could be tired.
Liverpool team news is, by comparison, fairly settled. Ryan Gravenberch has a heel problem and is a doubt after missing both the Arsenal game and the trip to Istanbul. Jeremie Frimpong is still out, and Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni remain long-term absentees. Iraola has tried Bradley Barcola through the middle when Alexander Isak tires, though he still sees him as a winger most of the time.
Expect Palace to sit deep and hit us on the break, with Adam Wharton, a name we’ve been linked with, trying to run the midfield. For us it comes down to patience. We’ve had plenty of the ball in recent games without creating enough, so Florian Wirtz needs to find Isak early and often. Score first and Palace’s confidence, already low, could go quickly. Concede first and it gets uncomfortable.
Whatever the table says, this fixture has a habit of ignoring form, so we can’t take anything for granted.
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