Liverpool vs Crystal Palace: Preview and Prediction
Liverpool will take on Crystal Palace in a pre-season friendly on Friday, 15th July. The two teams have travelled to Singapore for this fixture, which will be held at Kallang’s Singapore National Stadium.
This will be the second pre-season fixture for Liverpool. The Reds did not have a good start to their campaign, as they were recently handed a 4-0 drubbing by Manchester United in the Bangkok Century Cup. Jurgen Klopp’s men will be aiming to register their first win of the season by winning this match.
On the other hand, this will be the third pre-season outing for Crystal Palace. The Eagles started their campaign with a 1-1 stalemate against Accrington Stanley. Prior to their Singapore trip, Patrick Viera’s men handed Millwall a 5-4 defeat.
Current Form
Liverpool’s poor start to their 2022/23 pre-season campaign was pretty much on the expected lines, as they played every single match they were eligible to play in the previous season. Considering the incredible workload the players have had to endure, Klopp gave some of his players an extended break.
The players arrived in time for the Bangkok Century Cup fixture against Manchester United, but most first-team players were not utilized until the hour-mark. With Klopp trusting many academy graduates, the Reds suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Erik ten Hag’s team. Jadon Sancho, Fred, Anthony Martial and Facundo Pellistri were on the scoresheet for the Red Devils.
Having finished 12th last season, Crystal Palace’s main target is to finish in the top half of the standings this time around. They started their campaign against EFL League One side Accrington Stanley, where Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the opener for the Eagles, but Matt Lowe equalized for the visitors in the second half.
Viera’s men then took on London rivals Millwall and were successful in registering a victory this time around. In a nine-goal thriller, Eberechi Eze, Jordan Ayew, Jake O’Brien, Christian Benteke and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi found the back of the net for Crystal Palace, whilst a Benik Afobe brace and strikes from Charlie Cresswell and Zian Flemming comprised Millwall’s four goals.
Head to Head Record
Liverpool holds the upper hand when it comes to head-to-head records. They have won 35 of the 50 meetings against Crystal Palace, with the Eagles emerging victoriously on 14 occasions. A total of 11 matches have ended in stalemates.
In last season’s Premier League, Klopp’s team won both fixtures quite comfortably. The first match at Anfield ended 3-0 in favour of the hosts, with Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita getting on the scoresheet. The return leg at Selhurst Park produced a 3-1 victory, with Virgil Van Dijk, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fabinho scoring for the Kopites, while Odsonne Edouard scored for the home side.
Team News
New signing Darwin Nunez could be used from the start by Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool has named a massive 37-man squad for this tour, and keeping workload management into consideration, Klopp used 32 of those players in the game against Manchester United. Fabian Mrozek, Sepp van der Berg, Harvey Davies, James Norris and Tyler Morton are the five players who did not make the cut.
Those five players are likely to feature in this fixture, while the German tactician could try out new mega-money signing Darwin Nunez from the start. Meanwhile, the likes of Salah and Van Dijk are once again unlikely to feature heavily, as the youngsters in Melkamu Frauendorf, Stefan Bajcetic and Fabio Carvalho could be given another opportunity to make a case for themselves.
Though the reason is unknown, Crystal Palace has named a severely depleted squad for this tour. As compared to Liverpool’s 37-man squad, they have brought only 26 players to Singapore, of which only 10 are members of the first team.
Experienced players in the likes of Benteke, Wilfred Zaha, Will Hughes and James McArthur have all been left out of the squad. As for the new arrivals, goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and defensive midfielder Cheick Doucoure have stayed back at Selhurst Park, though promising right-winger Malcolm Ebiowei has travelled and is likely to make his unofficial Crystal Palace debut against the Reds.
Squads
Liverpool: Alisson Becker, Adrian, Harvey Davies, Fabian Mrozek, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip, Nathaniel Phillips, Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Sepp Van den Berg, Virgil van Dijk, Rhys Williams, Stefan Bajcetic, Luke Chambers, James Norris, Leighton Clarkson, Harvey Elliott, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones, Naby Keita, James Milner, Tyler Morton, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcantara, Fabio Carvalho, Melkamu Frauendorf, Thomas Hill, Isaac Mabaya, Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Bobby Clark.
Crystal Palace: Vicente Guaita, Jack Butland, Remi Matthews, Joachim Andersen, Nathaniel Clyne, Tyrick Mitchell, Joel Ward, Tayo Adaramola, Jake O’Brien, Cardo Siddik, Dan Quick, Kaden Rodney, Luka Milivojevic, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Malcolm Ebiowei, Jadan Raymond, Malachi Boateng, David Ozoh, Killian Phillips, Scott Banks, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Odsonne Edouard, Jordan Ayew, Rob Street, Victor Akinwale, Ademola Ola-Adebomi
Prediction
Though Klopp is likely to continue experimenting with his team and many of the big guns are unlikely to feature from the start, it has to be taken into consideration that Crystal Palace themselves will miss many of their prized assets. Hence, we have predicted the Reds to win this fixture.