Crystal Palace face a daunting trip to Anfield as they take on Liverpool on Sunday (April 14) looking to shake off a five-match winless run.

Last time out, the Eagles played against one of Liverpool’s title rivals, Manchester City, in which they came away on the end of a 4-2 loss.

Liverpool looked to be heading back to the summit of the Premier League when they faced fierce rivals Manchester United on Sunday, however after a disappointing second half they only came away with a 2-2 draw, dropping to second place.

Crystal Palace will be boosted by the return of Michael Olise, who came on with just under 20 minutes to go against Manchester City on Saturday. This weekend could see the first start for Olise under Oliver Glasner, although there's a good chance he comes off the bench again.

Liverpool also have players coming back from injury. Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all back for the hosts, however they may look to slowly integrate them into the team with the Premier League run in and Europa League in mind.  a

Predicted Liverpool starting XI (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Caoimhin Kelleher

Defence: Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson

Midfield: Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister

Attack: Mohammed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz

 

Predicted Crystal Palace starting XI (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Dean Henderson

Defence: Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen, Jefferson Lerma

Midfield: Daniel Munoz, Adam Wharton, Will Hughes, Tyrick Mitchell

Attack: Eberechi Eze, Jordan Ayew, Jean-Phillipe Mateta

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The stats

Here are key stats ahead of Sunday’s fixture:

  • Liverpool have not kept a home clean sheet this calendar year, with it being eight matches at Anfield since they last stopped their opponents scoring in the Premier League. Meanwhile Crystal Palace have scored in four of their last five away games, but failed to win any.
  • Palace have taken the lead in six of their last seven matches, including last week’s match against Premier League holders Manchester City. The only match in which they did not take the lead was against Bournemouth, where they lost 1-0.
  • Crystal Palace had a late lead in the reverse fixture, however after Jordan Ayew was sent off in the 75th minute, Liverpool equalised a minute later, then won the game with a stoppage time winner from Harvey Elliot.
  • Crystal Palace’s last three wins against their opponents all came at Anfield. These three wins also came in successive seasons, between 2015 and 2017.

Prediction

Liverpool will give Crystal Palace chances on the break, and after Palace’s performance against Manchester City, this may not be the walk in the park that many fans will expect for Liverpool.

Prediction: Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace