Matchday 28 as Liverpool gear up to make a visit to Selhurst Park to face one of their toughest opponents – Crystal Palace. These encounters have always produced some of the finest games of football. Liverpool are high on confidence on the back of the win against City. However, Klopp’s men will need to prove their worth against Palace as this is regarded as one of the toughest games of the season for Liverpool.
The Reds have often struggled against teams that sit back and use the long ball to good effect, also, they struggle when teams press us and put in a shift. Either way, they have the manpower to defeat these teams now and their strike force is back but they have to continue to work hard in every match. The team must start games with a quick pace closing down quickly on losing possession.
Liverpool look in a very good shape in terms of the players’ fitness and the spirit amongst the team. On the contrary, Palace have had some woeful results in the last few games. Their form has been terrible as they have managed to pick up just 2 points from the last 5 games. If we look at their home games, they have had 4 back to back losses. Keeping these things in mind, it should be an easy trip for the Reds but again it is Palace and you never know when the tables can turn.
Form Guide (Last 10 games)
Liverpool: W-W-D-L-D-L-W-D-L-W
Crystal Palace:L-L-L-W-L-D-L-W-L-D
Build-up
Lucas has not recovered fully and there is a chance that he might not start the game. For palace, Wickham – their main man upfront is doubtful to start. Liverpool might rest Flanagan and Milner before the big game against United. Yannick Bolasie is fit and ready to play for Palace. For Liverpool, the center three will be the key men who can turn this game their way. They will need to take their game to the next level and ensure enough possession and enough chances for the Reds.
Jurgen Klopp describes this as one of the toughest games on the road for the Reds.
He said,
‘If you can strike back, there is always a reason. Against Crystal Palace, there is a reason to strike back.
‘We should not have lost this game but we lost it. That is how it is. If you think about some of the other games we have had, if we had three points, three points, three points, then we would be talking differently. We would be talking about being around Manchester City or something like this.
‘That is not the case. There are a lot of reasons to be angry. Crystal Palace were a really physical side. They will give you in the first two minutes 500 reasons to be angry.
‘You have to take the chance for this. We need physicality. You can’t go to Crystal Palace and say we will play a little bit of football.
But, the best thing about the Manager is that he often manages to win the team to which he has lost the previous fixture. He is a man who observes games carefully and learns from this mistakes. So, there is a good chance for a proper revenge. Having said all of that, this game promises to be a cracker and certainly one to watch.
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