Liverpool and Crystal Palace will clash for the second time in the Premier League this season. The first installment between the two sides was entertaining with the contest ending in a 2-1 win for the Reds. Jurgen Klopp’s enterprising side have rediscovered their mojo this season and have been breezing past opposition with ease.
As of the time of writing, Liverpool currently sit on top of the Premier League with 67 points after 29 games, while Crystal Palace have garnered 30 points from 29 games.
After an underwhelming season last campaign, Liverpool, during the summer, started their squad rebuild and a few exits happened, primarily to the Saudi Pro League. Former captain Jordan Henderson joined Al-Ettifaq alongside club legend Steven Gerrard, while Roberto Firmino and Fabinho headed to Al-Ahli Saudi and Al-Ittihad, respectively. In terms of recruitment, Klopp decided to strengthen the squad with the signing of Hungarian captain Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig, World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton and Hove Albion, Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich, and Wataru Endo joining the ranks from Stuttgart.
The Reds began their title challenge with a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in their season opener, which that was followed by five consecutive wins against Bournemouth, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Wolves, and West Ham. The first league defeat of the season came controversially at Tottenham before another draw with Brighton. However, Klopp’s side bounced back with victories against Everton, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town, Brentford, Fulham, and Sheffield, and a hard-fought win over Crystal Palace that saw Salah score his 200th goal for the club.
To kick things off in 2024, the Reds have already beaten Bournemouth 4-0 on the road in the Premier League and won the Carabao Cup final with an extra time winner by Virgil Van Dijk sinking Chelsea at Wembley. The Reds also thumped Chelsea 4-1 in the league before losing 3-1 to Arsenal to see their lead at the top reduced. With Jurgen Klopp set to leave at the end of the season, the side will be keen to finish the season on a strong note.
On the other hand, Crystal Palace, who have been quite stable in the Premier League in recent seasons, have not had it all easy this campaign, and that led to the dismissal of Roy Hodgson in February. Austrian Oliver Gasner, who won the Europa League with Frankfurt, was appointed in the veteran’s place and it is remains to be seen whether he can lead them to Premier League safety.
Before the season got underway, Crystal Palace signed Matheus França from Brazilian club side Flamengo, English goalkeeper Dean Henderson from Manchester United, Rob Holding from Arsenal, and Jefferson Lerma from Bournemouth on a free transfer. In return, the Eagles had to release the likes of Luka Milivojevic, Jack Butland, Wilfred Zaha, and Vicente Guaita who left for Shabab Al-Ahli, Rangers, Galatasaray, and Celta de Vigo respectively on free transfers.
Crystal Palace have found it difficult to grind out results this season, managing just seven wins all season so far. Their recent form has been quite poor, with a terrible run starting on matchday 12 when Palace welcomed Everton to Selhurst Park in a five-goal thriller that saw the Eagles narrowly lose 3-2 before then losing to Luton Town. A 1-1 draw against West Ham United seemed to be some sort of silver lining for the Eagles but further back-to-back home defeats buried any hope of a resurgence. Things haven't been great for the Eagles but they do have the squad to comfortably beat the drop, hence the decision to draft Galsner in.
Liverpool are on a different level at Anfield, so it will be difficult for Crystal Palace to walk away with anything from this match.
Match tickets
The epic match at Anfield in Liverpool kicks off on Saturday 13th April 2024, at 3 PM UK time. The magnificent 61,276-capacity stadium with its electrifying atmosphere will host the Premier League title challengers and another side chasing Premier League safety.
Getting tickets for the Liverpool vs Crystal Palace tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Lineups
Liverpool have had several injuries this season and the line up has chopped and changed a lot as a result. Spanish midfielder Stefan Bajcetic has missed most of the season but is nearing a comeback, as are Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota.
At the back, Ibou Konate is now fit again while Andy Robertson will be hoping to have shaken off the ankle injury he piked up on international duty with Scotland. Joel Matip is out for the season due to an anterior cruciate ligament rupture.
Liverpool: Alison Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahim Konate, Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez; Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai; Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz.
Palace, who have generally been poor this whole campaign, will hope to stay up and come back to fight for some valuable positions next season. As of the time of writing, several key players like Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, and Rob Holding have been dealing with various injuries. Meanwhile, Cheick Doucoure is ruled out for the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury. However, they have the likes of Edouard and Ayew to call upon for this trip to Anfield.
Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Ward, Anderson, Guehi, Clyne, Hughes, Richards, Lerma, Ayew, Edouard, Eze.
Prediction
Liverpool have made Anfield a slaughter ground all season and it will be difficult to look beyond another resounding victory for Klopp’s men in front of the home support. Against Palace here, the Reds have won four of their past five meetings and are in a strong position to claim another win.
Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace
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