Starting Lineups
The Merseyside club have named an fresh team, with the vast bulk of established stars omitted. Kerkez, aiming to regain form, stands as the sole individual to retain his starting spot after the loss at Brentford last weekend. Reserve keeper Woodman and 18-year-old Northern Ireland winger Morrison are handed first starts, while the lineup also boasts 17-year-old winger Ngumoha and 18-year-old midfielder Nyoni. None of the substitutes is above 21 years; the substitute is the bench player with most games with nine senior appearances on his record.
The visitors on the other hand field six from the team selected for the narrow loss at Arsenal on Sunday. Guéhi, Lacroix, Muñoz, The winger, The attacker and Daichi Kamada all keep their places. The Senegalese international has a handful of strikes against the Reds in eight games for Crystal Palace and Watford, while one of the players making an appearance, the striker, scored the winner when the teams clashed at Selhurst Park last month.
Team Sheets
Liverpool: Woodman, The right-back, Nyoni, Gomez, The left-back, The midfielder, Kerkez, The winger, Mac Allister, Ngumoha, The forward.
Substitutes: Pecsi, Kaide Gordon, Pilling, Kone-Doherty, Pinnington, Figueroa, Nallo, Lucky, Laffey.
The visitors: Benitez, Canvot, Maxence Lacroix, The defender, Daniel Munoz, Hughes, Kamada, The wing-back, Sarr, Pino, Nketiah.
Substitutes: Dean Henderson, Mitchell, Lerma, Uche, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Nathaniel Clyne, The youngster, Devenny, Cardines.
Referee: Craig Pawson (The region).
Preamble
The Merseysiders have often struggled against the Eagles as difficult opponents. Not always – they have more victories – but when the Eagles defeat the Liverpool, they really hit, and hit hard. The famous 1990 clash. The memorable comeback. This season’s Community Shield. The recent encounter that precipitated this astonishing collapse of Arne Slot’s champion side, the beginning of a poor run in a string of losses.
Now let’s fold another set of results into the mix. Of the previous fixtures between the clubs, Palace have secured three victories (factoring in the charity match as a win), the Reds just two wins. Alarming for the hosts are the form at Anfield: Palace have won one and drawn two of the previous three. The Eagles have a firm grip over Liverpool at the moment.
However, Palace are in a dip in form of their own. They’ve lost three of their last four matches in all competitions, not securing a win domestically since that aforementioned capitulation-triggering Liverpool’s trip to their home. So here are two sides who would benefit from a bolt of season-reviving energy. This factor should give us a good possibility of some thrilling football tonight, though any long-term significance may depend on what teams the coaches decide to field; it’s not expected to be Premier League first XIs. We will see about that in due course. The start is at 7:45 in the evening. It’s on!
