:Headline: Preview: Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Sunday's Premier League clash between Liverpool and Crystal Palace, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to regain a lead at the summit of the Premier League table as the title race heats up, Liverpool will welcome Crystal Palace to Anfield on Sunday.
A draw with Manchester United last weekend saw the hosts fall behind Arsenal on goal difference with seven top-flight games remaining this term, while their visitors sit 14th amid a five-match winless streak.
Match preview
Liverpool return to Premier League action on Sunday with the aim of retaking the lead in what is shaping up to be a historic Premier League title race, in their bid to win the top flight for the second time under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp before his departure at the end of the season.
Indeed, the Reds have held a strong position for almost the entirety of the campaign thus far, maintaining a top-two place since November and building a slender lead over Arsenal and defending champions Manchester City.
After moving just ahead of their two title rivals with a seven-match unbeaten streak, in which they picked up six victories alongside a draw with Manchester City at Anfield before seeing off Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield United on home turf, Klopp's men travelled to Old Trafford to meet Manchester United on Sunday with 70 points on the board from 30 matches knowing a victory would see them move two ahead of Arsenal once again.
They did not succeed in doing so, though, despite going ahead in the first half through Luis Diaz, as Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo turned the game on its head with second-half goals for the hosts, before Mohamed Salah was at least able to salvage a point for the Merseyside giants six minutes from time, converting a penalty won by Harvey Elliott.
Facing a busy schedule towards the back end of the season, Liverpool now head into a crucial contest at the weekend on the back of a disappointing 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta BC on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie, and they will set out to put that behind them and complete a double over Sunday's visitors with Arsenal only leading on goal difference with seven games to.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, travel to Liverpool with the aim of hurting the Reds' title bid and scoring a first win over Liverpool since 2017, when they also visited Anfield in April and prevailed in a 2-1 triumph.
Aside from a pair of draws last season, each top-flight meeting between the two sides since has ended in a victory for the Merseyside outfit, including in a dramatic encounter at Selhurst Park in December, in which the Eagles led through Jean-Philippe Mateta, only for Salah to level for their opponents in the 76th minute and Harvey Elliott to snatch all three points with an injury-time winner.
That was one of 15 defeats in the London side's 31 top-flight outings so far this term, and new boss Oliver Glasner is yet to oversee a notable improvement since his late February appointment, despite kicking off his tenure with a 3-0 beating of Burnley at Selhurst Park.
From their five attempts since, Glasner's men have collected just two more points, with those coming from consecutive 1-1 draws against Luton Town and Nottingham Forest, before falling short away at AFC Bournemouth and most recently losing 4-2 at home to Manchester City last weekend, having gone ahead early through Mateta and pulled one back late on through Odsonne Edouard, after Kevin De Bruyne's brace and goals from Rico Lewis and Erling Haaland had already put the game out of sight.
While they do not currently feature in the relegation picture, Crystal Palace do now only lead 15th-placed Brentford and 16th-placed Everton by one and three points respectively and the drop zone by five with seven games left to play, and they will be keen to put a statement result on the board at the weekend to avoid being dragged into the mix in the final run-in.
Liverpool Premier League form:
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
Liverpool form (all competitions):
Crystal Palace Premier League form:
- W
- L
- D
- D
- L
- L
Team News
As has been the case throughout recent months, Liverpool continue to contend with several injury issues heading into Sunday's contest, notably first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker who is nearing a return but is unlikely to be ready for Sunday's game, although Trent Alexander-Arnold was fit to make the bench against Atalanta on Thursday and will push to feature from the outset on the right-hand side of the back four.
Midfielder Thiago Alcantara will also remain on the sideline alongside centre-back Joel Matip, but Ibrahima Konate is available to partner Virgil van Dijk in the middle of the defence while Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones will all fight to start in the engine room.
At the top end of the pitch, we may see the same front three which travelled to Old Trafford last weekend with Luis Diaz and star man Mohamed Salah flanking Darwin Nunez in a trio which has produced a combined tally of 54 goals across all competitions so far this season, despite competition from Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota, who is available after his own injury layoff.
Crystal Palace are also unlikely to make many changes to their starting XI from the defeat to Manchester City last time out, with Glasner's options heavily limited all over the pitch as goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, defenders Marc Guehi, Chris Richards and Rob Holding and midfielders Matheus Franca and Cheick Doucoure are all set to remain confined to the treatment room.
That should see the Eagles travel with a makeshift back three of Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen and midfielder Jefferson Lerma, leaving Will Hughes and Adam Wharton to partner up in the engine room again.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Odsonne Edouard will fight to lead the line, with the former likely to get the nod from the start after netting his seventh Premier League goal of the season last time out, while danger man Michael Olise will hope to join him and Eberechi Eze in a front three after settling for a substitute appearance behind Jordan Ayew last time out.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Endo, Szoboszlai; Salah, Nunez, Diaz
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Ward, Andersen, Lerma; Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Olise, Mateta, Eze
We say: Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace
While Liverpool did suffer a setback in their title bid last weekend and a surprise home beating in midweek, we do not see Klopp's men letting up easily and anticipate them returning to winning ways in dominant fashion at Anfield to ramp up the pressure on Arsenal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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