Key events
Arne Slot talks to TNT Sports and is asked about Liverpool’s “brilliant” start to the season. “Brilliant would have been nine [wins] out of nine! … this has been a very good start … the key is we haven’t changed that much … the players and staff have bought in … working hard … the fixture list has also been good to us … today it’s a difficult one, so let’s see … we do a lot of things well … but if we want to stay where we are and compete with even tougher opponents we have to find another gear … against Wolves we started really slow … against the low block against Forest we had problems … you will never reach perfection but we aim for that … it’s a good moment for Curtis Jones to start, also because he’s not going to go to the international games … every away game around the world is difficult … it’s very important not to get the crowd going … we have to be aggressive without the ball … help the crowd not to be as loud as they can be.”
Crystal Palace make two changes after the 2-1 defeat at Everton last weekend. Trevoh Chalobah, on loan from Chelsea, makes his debut, while Ismaïla Sarr starts on the wing; Daichi Kamada and Jean-Philippe Mateta drop to the bench.
Liverpool make four changes to the team sent out to beat Bologna 2-0 on Wednesday night. Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas are in; Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez and Andrew Robertson are benched.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Chalobah, Guehi, Lacroix, Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell, Sarr, Nketiah, Eze.
Subs: Turner, Ward, Mateta, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Hughes, Umeh, Kporha.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Jones, Mac Allister, Salah, Gravenberch, Gakpo, Jota.
Subs: Jaros, Gomez, Endo, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Robertson, Quansah, Bradley.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).
Preamble
Crystal Palace have yet to win a Premier League game this season, while Liverpool are top of the table having won five of their first six. Add in the fact that the Reds have won eight of their last nine league visits to Selhurst Park, drawing the other, and there’s a fair chance you’ll be putting this down as an away banker this lunchtime. But look at it another way. Palace are surely too good not to snap their winless streak sooner rather than later; Liverpool surely can’t keep winning their away fixtures this season forever; and despite their great recent record at Selhurst, there’s always something nagging away at the back of Mersey minds … because Crystanbul left a lot of scar tissue. So good luck confidently predicting the outcome of this game, which could see Liverpool confidently extend their lead at the top, Palace get their season going belatedly, or anything in between. Kick-off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!
