Palace welcome title chasing Liverpool to Selhurst Park for the last home encounter of the season.
The last time the two teams encountered each other, three early first half goals for the home side were enough to see Ian Holloway’s Palace team succumb to a 3-1 defeat. A late Dwight Gayle consolation goal was not enough to help the Eagles overturn the deficit.
Tony Pulis scooped the April Premier League manager of the month award for guiding Palace to four out of five victories in the month which saw Palace secure Premier League football next term. The Welshman dedicated the award to everyone involved with the club as we draw towards the end of a roller coaster season for the South Londoners.
Palace will look to bounce back from defeat at home to Manchester City that condemned them to their first defeat in six games to finish the season on a high note.
At the other end of the division, a win is an absolute must to keep their title dreams alive after Liverpool conceded an amazing opportunity to go five points clear at the top of the table at home to Chelsea. An uncharacteristic mistake from skipper Steven Gerrard allowed Demba Ba to score Chelsea’s first in their 2-0 win.
Midfielder Jordan Henderson serves the last game of a three match ban and Daniel Sturridge may once again have to settle for the bench as the striker is suffering from a hamstring problem which saw a limited appearance against Chelsea. Liverpool can set a new club record of seven top-flight away wins in a row if they win this game.
Defensive midfielder Kagisho Dikagcoi is the only fitness concern for Palace. The South African has been in and out of first team action in recent weeks having not started since the 1-0 victory at Upton Park last month.
Here are some statistics courtesy of Who Scored;
- Last six games between the two teams it is three wins for Palace, two for Liverpool and one draw
- Only three of those six games were at Selhurst with Palace winning two and one draw
- The aggregate score from the six games is Palace 8-7 Liverpool
- Form guide is identical for both teams – WWWWWL
- Form players – Suarez (8.49), Jedinak (7.57)
- Top scorers – Suarez (30), Puncheon (7)
- Top assists – Suarez (12), Bolasie (3)
- Appearances – Jedinak (36), Speroni (36), Mignolet (36)
- Bookings – Delaney (9), Gerrard (7)
- Shots per game – Suarez (5.5), Puncheon (2.3)
- Pass success – Sakho (92.2%), Ledley (80.8%)
- Aeriel duels won – Chamakh (4.9), Skrtel (3.5)
- Popular prediction – Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Last time out:
Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace
Anfield
Saturday 5th October 2013
Liverpool XI:
22 Mignolet
17 Sakho (Agger 67′)
04 Kolo Touré
37 Skrtel
03 Jose Enrique
31 Sterling
14 Henderson
08 Gerrard
15 Sturridge (Iago Aspas 88′)
07 Suárez
12 Moses (Luis Alberto 66′)
Crystal Palace XI:
01 Speroni
02 Ward
27 Delaney
03 Mariappa
21 Moxey
12 O’Keefe
15 Jedinak
13 Puncheon
28 Kebé (Gayle 45′)
29 Chamakh (Bolasie 68′)
30 Jerome (Camapaña 45′)
Ref: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: 44,721
