Crystal Palace are a “really, really, really hard” team to create chances against, Arne Slot has said as his Liverpool side aim to end a five-match winless run against the Eagles when Oliver Glasner’s team visit Anfield on Saturday.
The Reds have lost all three of their encounters with Palace this season but are five points clear in what is likely to be the final Premier League qualifying position for the Champions League with five matches of their campaign remaining.
“It doesn’t matter which [Palace] game, but you’re watching 60 minutes of football and you haven’t seen the other team creating a chance against them,” observed Slot, reflecting on his attempts to find defensive weaknesses to exploit.
“At the other end, they are very direct in their playing style with good attackers going quite fast in behind your last line.
“After Arsenal [and Manchester City], they have conceded the fewest goals [in this season’s division]. That tells you a lot, and there’s a reason for that: they hardly concede a chance.”
The outgoing Glasner will lead Palace at Anfield for the final time and says his players have a “massive chance” to earn a fourth win of 2025/26 against them, which would push his side towards the top half of the table.
“If we win twice against Liverpool, it’s very good,” said the Austrian. “To win three times is amazing. Now we have the opportunity to win against Liverpool four times in one season.
“It’s something unique – you don’t play a team like Liverpool four times a year very often. Having three wins already is massive.
“We are really happy and motivated because maybe this will never happen again. Anfield is such an amazing stadium.
“The atmosphere is great. We’re still playing the Premier League holders and it’s a big challenge. We always enjoy these kinds of games.
“This is exactly what we want and what helps us to improve. We get the mirror of what we are doing well and what we need to improve.”
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Liverpool v Crystal Palace team news
Goalkeeper Alisson could return for Liverpool after missing six straight matches in all competitions with the Brazil international’s second hamstring injury of the season.
Established understudy Giorgi Mamardashvili is out for weeks with a knee injury sustained during the last-gasp 2-1 win at Everton on Sunday, so third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman – a Palace fan and former Eagles academy player – will deputise if Alisson remains unavailable.
Centre-back Joe Gomez is back in contention after missing the trip to Everton. Midfielder Wataru Endo has returned to training following a long-term injury and should play again before the end of the season.
Defenders Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni (both knee) and forward Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) are long-term absentees and forward Jayden Danns remains out with a hamstring issue.
Midfielder Adam Wharton is back for Crystal Palace after missing the 0-0 draw at home to West Ham on Monday.
Nathaniel Clyne needs to recover from illness if the defender is to make his 250th Palace appearance at Anfield.
Striker Eddie Nketiah (hamstring) and on-loan Aston Villa forward Evann Guessand (knee) remain out.
Liverpool v Crystal Palace predicted line-ups
Liverpool starting XI: Freddie Woodman, Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak
Crystal Palace starting XI: Dean Henderson, Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix, Jaydee Canvot, Daniel Munoz, Will Hughes, Daichi Kamada, Tyrick Mitchell, Ismaila Sarr, Brennan Johnson, Jean-Philippe Mateta
Where to watch Liverpool v Crystal Palace: TV and online streams
Kick-off on Saturday is at 15:00 GMT (12:00 ET / 09:00 PT). The match is not being shown live in the UK.
Visit the Premier League’s site for a full list of international broadcasters.
Liverpool v Crystal Palace stats
- Liverpool lost the fixture on penalties in the Community Shield at Wembley Stadium, 2-1 in the Premier League at Selhurst Park in September and 3-0 at Anfield in the EFL Cup fourth round in October.
- They are winless in their last three Premier League home games against Crystal Palace (D2 L1), having won five in a row against them at Anfield immediately beforehand
- With six wins in their last 10 Premier League games (D1 L3), Liverpool have earned more victories than in their previous 18 combined (W5 D6 L7) and could win three league games in a row for a fourth time this season
- Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has scored in each of his last three Premier League starts (three goals), having only scored two goals in his previous 14 starts
- Salah will be 33 years and 314 days on the day of this game, with Cristiano Ronaldo the last player that old to score in four starts in a row in the competition (37 years, 86 days in May 2022)
- Palace could complete the league double over Liverpool for just the third time, after 1991/92 and 2014/15, and achieve the same feat over the reigning champions for the first time
- They have netted exactly twice in their last five Premier League games against the reigning champions, with Manchester City the only team to score at least two goals in six in a row against title-holders in the competitions, doing so from September 2013 to May 2017
- The last team to beat the Reds twice at Anfield in the same season were Arsenal in 2006/07
- Ismaila Sarr has scored in each of his last four appearances against Liverpool in all competitions (5 goals)
- In English football, Sarr only has more goals against Aston Villa (8) than he does against the Reds (7)
Liverpool v Crystal Palace prediction
Our prediction: Liverpool 1-1 Palace
Only Manchester City, Arsenal and Everton average more away points than Palace in this season’s Premier League. Their trip to Shakhtar in the Conference League semi-finals on Thursday could have a distracting influence, but expect the visitors to extend their solid recent record against Liverpool.
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