This weekend sees a return for the Eagles to what has been a happy hunting ground in recent seasons knowing that three points will all but secure a place in the Premier League next season.
Palace have found form just at the right time with Sam Allardyce overseeing four wins and a draw in the last six games in a complete turnaround of fortunes. With scalps such as Chelsea and Arsenal already under their belt, the South Londoners will be looking to add the Reds to that esteemed list.
In contrast, Liverpool themselves are in some great form themselves as they are on the fringes of Champions League qualification for next season with a top four finish. They are unbeaten in seven games with their last defeat coming at the hands of defending champions Leicester City at the end of February.
Interestingly, these two sides favour playing away from against each other with Liverpool winning the last three matches at Selhurst Park while Palace have won the last three at Anfield.
With both teams wanting to take the points from this match up, it could end up being another high scoring game particularly as the Eagles will miss the extremely influential central defender Mamadou Sakho who is prevented from playing against his parent club.
TEAM NEWS
CRYSTAL PALACE – Loic Remy (calf) and James Tomkins (calf) and both closing in on a return while Scott Dann (knee), Connor Wickham (knee) and Pape Souare (leg) continue to miss out.
LIVERPOOL – Joel Matip (muscular) and Lucas Leiva (muscular) both face late fitness testes. Ragnar Klavan (knee), Sadio Mane (knee), Jordan Henderson (foot), Ovie Ejaria (ankle), Adam Bogan (knee) and Danny Ings (knee) are not expected to feature while Adam Lallana (thigh) is a slight doubt.
ACTION REPLAY
The two sides last met in October at Selhurst Park. The visitors took an early lead through Emre Can but were pegged back within minutes thanks to James McArthur. In what was a crazy first half, Liverpool got themselves back into the just three minutes later courtesy of Dejan Lovren but once again it was James McArthur that levelled for Palace. That was not the end of the scoring before the break as Joel Matip got his name on the score sheet with Liverpool’s third which proved pivitol. Roberto Firmino sealed the win with less than twenty minutes left to play with the Eagles desperately chasing the game.
Who Scored man of the match – Philippe Coutinho
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 29/10/2016 Crystal Palace 2-4 Liverpool
- 06/03/2016 Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
- 08/11/2015 Liverpool 1-2 Crystal Palace
- 16/05/2015 Liverpool 1-3 Crystal Palace
- 14/02/2015 Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Last FIVE results for Palace;
- 15/04/2017 Crystal Palace 2-2 Leicester City
- 10/04/2017 Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal
- 05/04/2017 Southampton 3-1 Crystal Palace
- 01/04/2017 Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace
- 18/03/2017 Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford
Last FIVE results for Liverpool;
- 16/04/2017 West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Liverpool
- 08/04/2017 Stoke City 1-2 Liverpool
- 05/04/2017 Liverpool 2-2 Bournemouth
- 01/04/2017 Liverpool 3-1 Everton
- 19/03/2017 Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool
FORM PLAYERS (courtesy of Who Scored)
Top two rated players from each team so far this season;
- Roberto Firmino 7.60
- Sadio Mane 7.51
- Wilfried Zaha 7.47
- Christian Benteke 7.39
ONE TO WATCH
EMRE CAN
Former clubs – SV Blau-Gelb Frankfurt, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen
The German international has been receiving rave reviews this season in his role at Liverpool and rightly so. It may have taken some time to find his way since arriving at Anfield in 2014 from the Bundesliga but for many Reds fans it has been worth the wait.
Born in Frankfurt to Turkish parents, his career started at SV Blau-Gelb Frankfurt as a youth before moves to Eintracht and then Bayern. He made his professional debut for Bayern II in 2011 but only managed four appearances for the first team. A move to Leverkusen was much needed in 2013 where he made 29 appearances and scored three goals. His form alerted the attention of Liverpool who activated his release clause and paid £9.75million for his services.
PREDICTION
Final league position – 3rd
In what has been a rather erratic season for Liverpool in parts, their end to the season is looking strong. Securing a Champions League place for next season will be seen as progress by the Anfield faithful even though silverware has remained elusive. However, there are signs that Jurgen Klopp is starting to build something special and patience to allow him to do so will be just as important.
- TEB prediction – draw
- Alexey Yaroshevskey’s prediction (see link below) – home win
- Who Scored prediction – home win
BETTING ODDS (courtesy of Paddy Power)
- Home – 1/2
- Draw – 10/3
- Away – 11/2
- Both teams to score – 4/6
FIND OUT WHAT ALEXEY YAROSHEVSKEY FROM ANFIELD INDEX TOLD TEB THIS WEEK IN THE LIVERPOOL VIEW