Starting Lineups
The Merseyside club are fielding an experimental lineup, the majority of regular starters omitted. Kerkez, aiming to regain form, stands as the sole individual to retain his starting spot after the 3-2 defeat at Thomas Frank’s side last weekend. Backup shot-stopper Freddie Woodman and youngster Morrison make their club debuts, while the starting XI also features teen talent Rio Ngumoha and 18-year-old midfielder the playmaker. None of the substitutes is older than 21; Kaide Gordon is the bench player with most games with nine senior appearances on his resumé.
The visitors by contrast keep half a dozen from the team sent out for the reverse at Mikel Arteta’s side on Sunday. Guéhi, Lacroix, Muñoz, Ismaïla Sarr, Yéremy Pino and The midfielder all hold onto their shirts. He has several finishes against Liverpool in eight appearances for Crystal Palace and Watford, while one of the players coming into the side, the striker, netted the decisive goal when the teams clashed at their home ground last month.
Match Squads
The Reds: Woodman, Ramsay, Trey Nyoni, Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson, The midfielder, Milos Kerkez, Kieran Morrison, Alexis Mac Allister, Rio Ngumoha, Chiesa.
Substitutes: Pecsi, Gordon, Pilling, Kone-Doherty, Pinnington, Figueroa, Nallo, Lucky, Laffey.
The Eagles: Benitez, The defender, Maxence Lacroix, Guehi, Munoz, Will Hughes, Kamada, Sosa, Sarr, The winger, Nketiah.
Substitutes: Henderson, Mitchell, The midfielder, Uche, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Clyne, The youngster, Devenny, The sub.
Match referee: The referee (Yorkshire).
Fixture Context
The home side have often struggled against Crystal Palace as tricky foes. Not always – they’re 36-16 up on wins – but when the visitors overcome the hosts, they really hit, and hit hard. The famous 1990 clash. The 2014 thriller. This season’s Community Shield. The game at Selhurst last month that precipitated this astonishing collapse of Liverpool’s title-winning team, their initial defeat in a run of poor results.
Include another couple of sequences into the mix. Of the last eight meetings between the clubs, Crystal Palace have triumphed three times (including the season opener as a win), the Reds just two wins. What’s even more worrying the hosts are the form at Anfield: Palace have secured a win and two draws of the most recent trio. Crystal Palace have a distinct advantage over the home team at the moment.
Having said all that, the Eagles are in a bit of a rut of their own. They’ve lost three of their last four matches in various cups, without a victory domestically since that previously mentioned loss-inducing Liverpool’s trip to Selhurst Park. So here are a couple of teams who could do with a boost to turn their year around. This factor should give us a fair chance of some top-grade fun tonight, though any season-defining impact may hinge on what lineups the two managers decide to field; it’s not expected to be full-strength teams. But we’ll find out about that shortly. Kick-off is at 7:45 in the evening. We’re underway!
