The team that Liverpool have previously struggled against awaits them this weekend when they face Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday.
When you look back at the recent results between the two sides you can see that Palace should have confidence going into the clash, despite the fact it is away from home. Since the Eagles returned to the top flight of English football, Liverpool have only managed one 3-1 win against them, thanks to goals from Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard. In contrast, Palace have won two games, one of which was at Anfield last year.
Palace were also the final nail in the coffin that was Liverpool’s title challenge in 2013-14 when they fought back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 thanks to a late Dwight Gayle double. In fact, when looking back at those previous results, Gayle has been relatively successful against Liverpool scoring 4 goals in four games against the Merseyside club.
The Eagles currently sit in 10th position on the ladder, only two places behind Liverpool in eighth. Their performances in general this season have been above the expectation of their fans, having already defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and last week were the better team against Manchester United. The club should be heading into this clash with a lot confidence that they can at least get a point.
Liverpool do have a difficult run into the match with a game against Rubin Kazan in Russia on Friday, so they will have a two day turnaround heading into this game. The problem facing Jurgen Klopp is that his side is yet notch up a win in Europe, only picking up three points in three games. There is a chance that Klopp will rest players for the game in Russia, so there is an air of unpredictability about that Palace will face on Sunday. Given that Liverpool have only won one game in ten they will most likely rest the main front liners for the Europa League match and focus on getting as high as possible on the league table. Given that key players Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson are still injured and the side still have a chance of advancing to the next round of the Europa, Klopp should save his first team players for the Palace clash.
The one thing that Palace cannot afford to do is play the way they did against Tottenham. They seemed to be taking the game too easily and expecting to be able to run over exhausted players but in actuality Spurs where able to get over them at the end of the game. For Liverpool they have to be careful with how they deal with Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha because speed is something that Liverpool has struggled to defend against this campaign. They cannot afford to have Bolasie run rampant down the left like he did towards the end of the United game because if that does happen the frailty of the Liverpool defence will be on show and Palace will create opportunities to take the win.
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