Third-placed Liverpool return from the international break with a tough fixture as they travel to face relegation candidates Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday. The Reds won the reverse fixture 1-0 in August, Sadio Mane scored the only goal of the match on that occasion. Last season the Eagles pulled off a surprising 2-1 victory at Anfield Road after having lost the home match 4-2. Overall, Crystal Palace have won three of the last six direct matches against Liverpool, but all those three wins were at Anfield Road.
Crystal Palace ended their four-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory at Huddersfield before the international break, a result which pushed them up in 16th place but just two points above the relegation zone. Every point counts at this stage of the season and the Eagles would need quite a few more in order to be sure they play in the Premier League next season. Julian Speroni, Bakary Sako, Jason Puncheon and Scott Dann remain injured, while Connor Wickham has made his return in training and might have a place on the bench.
Liverpool enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 victory over Watford before the international break and Mohamed Salah enjoyed it even more because he scored no less than four goals. The Reds are two points behind second-placed Manchester United, but the Red Devils have a game in hand. However, Liverpool seem almost certain of their top-four place at this point, because fifth-placed Chelsea are pretty far back. Joe Gomez picked up an injury on international duty and is likely to miss out.
Probable line-ups:
Crystal Palace: Hennessey - Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, Van Aanholt - Townsend, Milivojevic, Cabaye, Loftus-Cheek - Benteke, Zaha
Liverpool: Karius - Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson - Chamberlain, Henderson, Wijnaldum - Salah, Firmino, Mane
My prediction: Liverpool to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Crystal Palace win - 7.00
Draw - 4.33
Liverpool - 1.44
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Comments (1)
sharpe
04/13/18, 04:04:45 PM
Palace lost a number of matches lately including that one in which they took the lead early. That defeat shouldn't be so vital for them as they still have the lightest...
Palace lost a number of matches lately including that one in which they took the lead early. That defeat shouldn't be so vital for them as they still have the lightest schedule of games till the end of anyone involved in the PL relegation battle but they should start win a games and in a hurry too, otherwise the last couple of turns could be a nightmare for them.
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