Liverpool FC v Crystal Palace FC – Pre-match opinion
Liverpool welcome south Londoners Crystal Palace to Anfield tomorrow afternoon for the Barclays Premier League late kick-off. Jürgen Klopp will be pushing his side to build on their recent good form which has yielded six games undefeated and boasting three wins in the last three.
The visitors have shown some good form of their own having won four of their last six league games, losing one and drawing the other. the only blot overall being the 5-1 whooping suffered at the hands of Manchester City in the Capital One cup. Ex-Palace favourite turned manager Alan Pardew will be looking to get a win over a club his side has on the whole, not done so well against at Anfield. Losing three, winning one and drawing one of their last five is not much to shout about.
In terms of selection, well the defence will be a no brainer with Martin Skrtel returning to partner Mamadou Sakho in the centre of defence. It should be acknowledged that third choice Dejan Lovren put in a very commendable shift against Rubin Kazan in the week but it should be acknowledged also, that Sakho was even better. Thus the usual pairing will prevail, I believe. Nathaniel Clyne and Alberto Moreno will continue at right and left back respectively.
The midfield should consist of Emre Can, Lucas Leiva and James Milner although the latter of whom has been less than impressive lately. With Jordan Henderson penciled in for a return later this month according to physioroom.com, the manager will have to make one or two tough choices once the captain has eased back into the side. In the Kazan game, the former Man City attacker was guilty of some criminally poor shooting and his pressing has left some to be desired also.
Ahead of these three, things get a bit more tricky. Following his man-of-the-match performance against the Russians, Jordan Ibe has made a massive claim for a start. The manager said after the game, the 19 year-old from Bermondsey has “…a lot to learn.” which is of course, correct but what better way to learn than playing? Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho are also worthy starters after very strong showings of late. Word was that Coutinho was carrying a slight hamstring strain during the week so it may be that Klopp won’t risk starting him.
However, on the basis of form, and in this perfect world I hear so much about, Klopp would drop Milner and start with Coutinho, Firmino and Ibe supporting Christian Benteke. This though I’m told, is not a perfect world so I expect Milner to be included and Ibe will start on the bench.
One thing this game won’t be is easy. we know they say there are no easy games but this one most definitely won’t be. Eagles manager Pardew, being a direct descendant of the rough and tumble Steve Coppell side of the 80’s, will make this a bumpy 90 minutes for the Reds and these days they can even play a bit to-boot (if you excuse the pun!). One thing Liverpool can’t afford to do is be “brought down to their level” as Klopp described the way in which poorer opposition can bring about an even match in the game – simply by not allowing the better one to play. I would most definitely describe Liverpool are the stronger side here but as the Beastie Boys said: You gotta fight, for your right to party.
Liverpool will no doubt be looking to avenge the result last May when they were overturned in Steven Gerrard’s circus of a fair well game. To do so would move them up one place, on account of their relatively poor goal difference but I’d take that all day long.
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