Crystal Palace host Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Sunday with both sides desperate for very different reasons — the Eagles have not scored a league goal in almost a month, while the Reds arrive on the back of two straight defeats.
Palace sit 18th in the Premier League with seven points from nine games, and their last three league outings tell the story of a side in freefall: beaten 5-0 at Brighton, 2-0 at home by Newcastle and 2-0 at Tottenham, nine goals conceded and none scored. Liverpool, meanwhile, lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal and then 3-2 at Fenerbahçe in the Champions League in midweek, and head coach Andoni Iraola will be keen to sign off for the international break with a win.
Palace in freefall without Mateta
The Eagles' problems start up front. Jean-Philippe Mateta begins a three-match Premier League suspension after his 13th-minute red card at Tottenham, with an independent commission rejecting Palace's appeal. The Frenchman is their focal point and their main source of goals, and without him the attack looks blunt.
Ismaïla Sarr is also missing with a groin injury and will not return until after the international break — a significant blow, given the Senegal winger has a habit of scoring against Liverpool, who targeted him during the summer transfer window. Chadi Riad remains a long-term absentee with a knee ligament injury, while Takehiro Tomiyasu is also sidelined.
Jørgen Strand Larsen is set to lead the line in Mateta's place, with Eddie Nketiah the other option — and Nketiah knows the way to goal against Liverpool, having snatched a stoppage-time winner against the Reds last season. Daichi Kamada, whose late equaliser rescued a 1-1 Europa League draw with Hoffenheim on Thursday, is expected to support the attack.
That Hoffenheim result may have bought manager Pierre Sage some time. Appointed in June to replace Oliver Glasner, Sage has seen his side win only once in their last seven matches — in the Carabao Cup — and chairman Steve Parish is weighing his future. Kamada's goal arrived after Adam Wharton had been sent off, and it kept the pressure from boiling over completely. Another heavy defeat on Sunday, though, and the international break suddenly becomes a very dangerous fortnight for a manager.
Liverpool's wounded response
Liverpool's own week has been miserable. The defeat at Fenerbahçe on Wednesday followed the home loss to Arsenal, leaving the Reds without a win in three matches, and Iraola bemoaned the "cheap goals" that cost his side in Istanbul. The head coach, appointed on 4 June after Arne Slot's departure, now needs a response before the break — and a trip to a side that cannot score looks, on paper, like the ideal fixture.
The team news is mixed. Ryan Gravenberch is the only doubt, with the midfielder still working his way back from the heel fracture that kept him out of the Arsenal and Fenerbahçe games. Iraola described his chances as day to day and "a matter of pain", and the Dutchman's absence from the Netherlands squad suggests he will not be risked.
Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni all remain out, but there is better news elsewhere. Ronald Araújo, Miloš Kerkez, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are all expected to return to the starting XI after being on the bench in Istanbul, giving Liverpool their strongest attack in weeks. Isak, who started on the bench in Turkey while Bradley Barcola led the line, will be the focal point at Selhurst Park.
Predicted Liverpool XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Araújo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Nyoni, Mac Allister; Gakpo, Wirtz, Barcola; Isak.
Predicted Crystal Palace XI (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Disasi, Canvot; Khalaili, Wharton, Timber, Mitchell; Kamada, Pino; Strand Larsen.
Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson will be busy either way. According to Liverpool FC, he is the Premier League's busiest goalkeeper this season, averaging 4.8 saves per match — a statistic that says everything about how much defending Palace have been doing.
So what: a season-defining afternoon before the break
This is the last Premier League game before the international break, and the result will set the mood for both clubs for the next fortnight. For Palace, even a point would feel like a turning point after three goalless defeats, and a win would lift them out of the bottom three. For Liverpool, anything less than three points turns a bad week into a genuine mini-crisis, with the title race already threatening to move on without them.
TNT Sports predict a 2-0 Liverpool win, and the bookmakers agree — but Selhurst Park has a long history of humbling bigger sides, and a desperate home team with nothing to lose is exactly the kind of opponent that has punished Liverpool before.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Liverpool should win this game, and probably will — but the Reds' defence has looked fragile, their midfield is patched up, and Palace have nothing left to lose. If Sage's side score first, Selhurst Park will believe, and a Liverpool team low on confidence is exactly the kind of side that can be dragged into a scrap. The smart money says 2-0 to the visitors; the brave money says Palace finally find the net and make a game of it. Can Crystal Palace spring the shock of the weekend, or will Liverpool cruise back to winning ways? Let us know in the comments.
