The opposition lowdown: Crystal Palace

MatchThe opposition lowdown: Crystal Palace

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By Chris Shaw

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Get the lowdown on Crystal Palace ahead of Liverpool’s league meeting with the Eagles at Anfield on Sunday afternoon (2pm BST kick-off).

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The visitors begin the weekend in 14th place in the Premier League, with 30 points accrued from their 31 fixtures so far.

They are without a win in their last five top-flight games – a run that has included two draws and three defeats.

Last time out, Oliver Glasner’s side were beaten 4-2 at home to Manchester City.

Ones to watch

The majority of Palace’s league goals this season have been shared across four players, with Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Philippe Mateta leading the way on seven strikes, and Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise chipping in with six apiece.

Jordan Ayew, who has also netted four times, tops the Londoners’ assist chart with six.

No team in the league before this round of fixtures had made more tackles than the Eagles (615) and they have contested the third-highest number of duels (3,338).

The manager

Glasner, who guided former club Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League glory in 2022, was appointed as Palace manager in February, taking over from Roy Hodgson.

He was previously in charge of SV Ried, LASK and VfL Wolfsburg.

Squad news

The away team are currently without a number of players due to injuries.

Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is ruled out for the remainder of the season, and also unavailable for the trip to Anfield are Cheick Doucoure, Matheus Franca de Oliveira, Marc Guehi, Rob Holding and Chris Richards.

Midfielder Jesurun Rak-Sakyi is a doubt to face the Reds, too, because of a hamstring issue.

Glasner revealed Olise is nearing a return to the Palace starting XI after coming back from an injury lay-off as a substitute last weekend.

Previous meeting

Liverpool had to come from a goal behind to win 2-1 in dramatic fashion when the sides met in the reverse fixture in December.

Mateta’s penalty kick had given the hosts a 57th-minute lead at Selhurst Park, though they subsequently lost Ayew to a red card.

Mohamed Salah immediately equalised for the Reds and, one minute into stoppage time, Harvey Elliott found the net from the edge of the area.

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What they said

Palace boss Glasner

“We’ve had a very good week in training, high quality and a lot of intensity, which is very important because Liverpool are maybe that team in the world that plays with the highest pressure – you never have time.

“It’s been a really good week and Michael was part of it, so he’s close to starting. I think Michael can’t win the game alone, but he has a big role, and all the others have a big role. We’ll need a great goalkeeper because Liverpool are a very attacking team, so everybody has a key role and we will show it again that we are competitive as a team.

“It’s important to be it for 95 to 100 minutes, performing at our best level, but this week was really good.”

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This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.