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Preview: Liverpool and Crystal Palace meet again

Preview: Liverpool and Crystal Palace meet again

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Anfield plays host to an intriguing Carabao Cup match-up on Wednesday evening as an out of sorts Liverpool take on a Crystal Palace team with just one win in October.

By Sam McGuire

The story so far

If you ignore the Community Shield (loss to Palace), Liverpool started the season with seven wins from seven across all competitions. Since then though, the Reds have won just one of six and this run includes four consecutive losses in the Premier League. 

Arne Slot’s side have one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League and only five teams have conceded more than the Reds after nine matches. The reigning champions are now seven points off of the pace, injuries are racking up to key players while a number of their title winning team are out of form. 

The Carabao Cup is both a hindrance and an opportunity. It is a game they don’t need right now with the squad looking thin and so many big matches on the horizon, but it’s a chance for a bit of a confidence boost. 

The same could be said for the visitors too. 

For Palace, they kicked off Liverpool’s losing run with a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park. Olivier Glasner’s men had been on an 19-match unbeaten run until recently. They’re now four without a win across all competitions and find themselves 10th in the Premier League. They’ve blanked in their last two outings and are struggling for clean sheets.

Recent form 

The 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt was a bit of a false dawn for Liverpool. 

It was supposed to be a confidence boost for the Reds. Yet it was more of the same for Slot’s side in the loss to Brentford. Slot’s side conceded an early goal, couldn’t deal with the direct nature of their hosts and were wasteful in attack. 

It was the same in losses against Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United too. The Premier League champions are in a rut. 

The Eagles haven’t been as bad as Liverpool, but the wheels have fallen off a little bit over recent weeks. Glasner’s side conceded two late goals to Everton to bring their unbeaten run to an abrupt halt. They showed great resolve to claim a 3-3 draw with Bournemouth before back-to-back losses to AEK Larnaca and Arsenal. The game against the Cherries aside, Palace are finding goals hard to come by and that seems to be their problem.

Key Players 

Both sides might rotate heavily with the focus being on other competitions. Both teams might go with strong starting XIs as they look to return to winning ways. It’s difficult to really know what either manager will do and, as a result, it’s difficult to know who might be the key players for this game. 

Fede Chiesa will likely get the nod for Liverpool though, regardless of how strong Slot goes against the Eagles. He’s had an influential season for the Reds and will look to, once again, make the most of his opportunity in the team. 

Chiesa’s player traits comparison

For Palace, Glasner isn’t going to resist the urge to play Ismaïla Sarr against Liverpool, is he? The Senegal forward has a good record against the Merseyside club and is one of the few players in Europe who seems to have the better of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté on a regular basis. 

Team News

Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni all miss out for Liverpool while the expectation is that Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Alexander Isak won’t be risked in this clash with so many big games coming up for Liverpool. Having played so much football recently it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai rested for this clash either. 

For Palace, Cheick Doucouré is still out but, other than that, Glasner appears to have a full squad to pick from.

Prediction 

Under Slot, Liverpool don’t have the best record against Palace. They picked up a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park early last season but have failed to win any of the last three matches between the two teams. They could only manage a draw in the final game of the 2024/25 season, the two sides played out a 2-2 draw at Wembley in the Community Shield before Palace claimed a 2-1 win in their last meeting.  

Without knowing how strong either team will go, it’s hard to predict what might happen. Liverpool have home advantage but with the way they’ve been playing recently, will it matter? We’re going to say 1-1 with the match going to penalties.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Carabao Cup with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Preview: Liverpool and Crystal Palace meet again

Anfield plays host to an intriguing Carabao Cup match-up on Wednesday evening as an out of sorts Liverpool take on a Crystal Palace team with just one win in October.

By Sam McGuire

The story so far

If you ignore the Community Shield (loss to Palace), Liverpool started the season with seven wins from seven across all competitions. Since then though, the Reds have won just one of six and this run includes four consecutive losses in the Premier League. 

Arne Slot’s side have one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League and only five teams have conceded more than the Reds after nine matches. The reigning champions are now seven points off of the pace, injuries are racking up to key players while a number of their title winning team are out of form. 

The Carabao Cup is both a hindrance and an opportunity. It is a game they don’t need right now with the squad looking thin and so many big matches on the horizon, but it’s a chance for a bit of a confidence boost. 

The same could be said for the visitors too. 

For Palace, they kicked off Liverpool’s losing run with a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park. Olivier Glasner’s men had been on an 19-match unbeaten run until recently. They’re now four without a win across all competitions and find themselves 10th in the Premier League. They’ve blanked in their last two outings and are struggling for clean sheets.

Recent form 

The 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt was a bit of a false dawn for Liverpool. 

It was supposed to be a confidence boost for the Reds. Yet it was more of the same for Slot’s side in the loss to Brentford. Slot’s side conceded an early goal, couldn’t deal with the direct nature of their hosts and were wasteful in attack. 

It was the same in losses against Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United too. The Premier League champions are in a rut. 

The Eagles haven’t been as bad as Liverpool, but the wheels have fallen off a little bit over recent weeks. Glasner’s side conceded two late goals to Everton to bring their unbeaten run to an abrupt halt. They showed great resolve to claim a 3-3 draw with Bournemouth before back-to-back losses to AEK Larnaca and Arsenal. The game against the Cherries aside, Palace are finding goals hard to come by and that seems to be their problem.

Key Players 

Both sides might rotate heavily with the focus being on other competitions. Both teams might go with strong starting XIs as they look to return to winning ways. It’s difficult to really know what either manager will do and, as a result, it’s difficult to know who might be the key players for this game. 

Fede Chiesa will likely get the nod for Liverpool though, regardless of how strong Slot goes against the Eagles. He’s had an influential season for the Reds and will look to, once again, make the most of his opportunity in the team. 

Chiesa’s player traits comparison

For Palace, Glasner isn’t going to resist the urge to play Ismaïla Sarr against Liverpool, is he? The Senegal forward has a good record against the Merseyside club and is one of the few players in Europe who seems to have the better of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté on a regular basis. 

Team News

Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni all miss out for Liverpool while the expectation is that Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Alexander Isak won’t be risked in this clash with so many big games coming up for Liverpool. Having played so much football recently it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai rested for this clash either. 

For Palace, Cheick Doucouré is still out but, other than that, Glasner appears to have a full squad to pick from.

Prediction 

Under Slot, Liverpool don’t have the best record against Palace. They picked up a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park early last season but have failed to win any of the last three matches between the two teams. They could only manage a draw in the final game of the 2024/25 season, the two sides played out a 2-2 draw at Wembley in the Community Shield before Palace claimed a 2-1 win in their last meeting.  

Without knowing how strong either team will go, it’s hard to predict what might happen. Liverpool have home advantage but with the way they’ve been playing recently, will it matter? We’re going to say 1-1 with the match going to penalties.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Carabao Cup with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.