Crystal Palace v Liverpool – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Crystal Palace host Liverpool on Saturday The hosts are winless this season and sit in 18th place, while the Reds have won five of their six matches and are at the top of the table. Palace won 1-0 at Anfield in April, ending a 15-match winless run against Liverpool in all competitions.

Crystal Palace Form

Palace won six of their last seven matches to end last season, but it’s been a difficult start to the 2024-25 campaign. This season began with a late 2-1 defeat at Brentford and a 2-0 home loss to West Ham. After beating Norwich 4-0 in the Carabao Cup, they drew 1-1 at Chelsea in the league.

Palace came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at home against Leicester and won 2-1 at QPR in the Carabao Cup. A 0-0 home draw versus Manchester United was a fortunate result, as their opponents missed five big chances. Last weekend, their winless start to the EPL season continued with a 2-1 loss at Everton.

Crystal Palace Team News

Coach Oliver Glasner looks set to be without Chadi Riad, Rob Holding, and Chris Richards in defense. Trevoh Chalobah could make his first start after Jefferson Lerma filled in at the back against Everton.

Matheus Franca is unlikely to feature in attack, while Daichi Kamada may play in central midfield with Cheick Doucoure nursing an ankle injury.

Crystal Palace Motivation

Palace are low on confidence and are missing the creativity of Michael Olise.

A draw would be seen as a great result for them. They won’t play overly defensively but will likely drop into a back five and try to block Liverpool’s attacking spaces.

Liverpool Form

The Reds are sitting at the top of the league. They started the season with 2-0 wins against Ipswich and Brentford before thrashing Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford, creating six big chances. A shock 1-0 loss followed at home to Nottingham Forest, with Liverpool producing just 0.94 xG.

Arne Slot’s men have responded well since that setback. They won 3-1 away at AC Milan, generating 3.09 xG, and beat Bournemouth 3-0 at Anfield. After a 5-1 victory over West Ham in the Carabao Cup, they won 2-1 at Wolves and defeated Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League.

Liverpool Team News

Liverpool have had a very settled lineup under their new coach. The back five is largely unchanged unless Kostas Tsimikas comes in to give Andy Robertson a rest.

In attack, Darwin Nunez is likely to start as the central striker, preferred over Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo. Harvey Elliott is ruled out, and Federico Chiesa will undergo a late fitness test.

Liverpool Motivation

Liverpool believe a title challenge is within reach this season. They will aim to win at Selhurst Park.

The Reds will seek to dominate the match and control counterattacks with a narrow defensive shape.

Key Stats

Crystal Palace are winless in the league this season (3 losses, 3 draws).

Crystal Palace have won just 1 of their last 16 matches against Liverpool.

Crystal Palace have failed to score in 6 of their last 10 matches against Liverpool (in all competitions).

Liverpool have won 8 of their 9 matches this season (22 goals scored).

Liverpool have scored 2+ goals in their last 5 away EPL matches (12 goals scored).

Verdict

This match looks set for a Liverpool win. Palace are lacking creativity and confidence. A 2-0 win for Liverpool with a possible clean sheet seems likely.