Team News
The hosts present an youthful side, with the vast bulk of first-team players rested. Milos Kerkez, desperate to play himself into some form, is the only player to start again after the 3-2 defeat at Thomas Frank’s side last weekend. Backup shot-stopper Woodman and 18-year-old Northern Ireland winger the winger are handed first starts, while the starting XI also features 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha and teenage midfielder Trey Nyoni. Nobody on their bench is older than 21; the substitute is the bench player with most games with nine matches on his CV.
The London club by contrast field six from the team selected for the narrow loss at the Gunners on Sunday. Marc Guéhi, Maxence Lacroix, Daniel Muñoz, Sarr, Yéremy Pino and Daichi Kamada all keep their places. He has five goals against the Reds in eight games for both clubs, while one of the players coming into the side, Nketiah, scored the winner when the teams clashed at Selhurst Park last month.
Team Sheets
Anfield outfit: Freddie Woodman, The right-back, Nyoni, Gomez, Robertson, The midfielder, Kerkez, Kieran Morrison, Alexis Mac Allister, Rio Ngumoha, Chiesa.
Subs: The sub, Gordon, Pilling, The talent, Pinnington, Figueroa, Nallo, The player, Laffey.
Crystal Palace: Benitez, Canvot, Lacroix, Marc Guehi, Munoz, Hughes, Kamada, Sosa, Sarr, The winger, The striker.
Reserves: Dean Henderson, Tyrick Mitchell, Lerma, The player, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Clyne, The youngster, Devenny, The sub.
Match referee: Craig Pawson (The region).
Match Background
The Merseysiders have often struggled against Crystal Palace as tricky foes. Not always – they lead the head-to-head – but when the visitors defeat the Liverpool, they really hit, and hit hard. The famous 1990 clash. Crystanbul. The pre-season match. The recent encounter that precipitated this dramatic downturn of Liverpool’s title-winning team, the beginning of a poor run in a string of losses.
Now let’s fold another couple of sequences into the mix. Of the last eight meetings between the clubs, Crystal Palace have won three (we’re counting the charity match as a win), the home side just a pair. More concerning the Reds are the form at Liverpool’s stadium: The visitors have secured a win and two draws of the previous three. The Eagles have a firm grip over tonight’s hosts at the moment.
However, the Eagles are in a dip in form of their own. They have suffered three defeats of their fixtures in every tournament, not securing a win domestically since that aforementioned capitulation-triggering fixture to Selhurst. So here are both clubs who would benefit from a boost to turn their year around. This factor should give us a good possibility of some thrilling football tonight, though any long-term significance may hinge on what lineups the coaches decide to field; it’s doubtful to be full-strength teams. But we’ll find out about that soon enough. Kick-off is at 19:45 GMT. The action is about to start!
