Liverpool will lock horns with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon hoping to pick up all three points and stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League standings. The Reds managed to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory versus Tottenham Hotspur in midweek which will give them a lot of confidence heading into this clash on the road.
Jurgen Klopp will stick with his preferred 4-3-3 formation but is sweating on the fitness of Joel Matip who was not available for selection on Wednesday due to a back problem. If the Cameroonian defender can pass a late fitness test, then he will start. Otherwise, Rhys Williams will be on standby just in case he has to fill in as a centre-back once again this weekend.
4-3-3 Liverpool Predicted Lineup To Face Crystal Palace
Defence
Alisson Becker will operate in between the sticks for the Merseyside outfit after he failed to keep a clean sheet in each of his past two outings in the Premier League. As mentioned earlier, Matip will get the nod to start if he is passed fit to play along with Fabinho at the heart of the Liverpool backline as they try to cope with the aerial threat of Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke during the 90 minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold will be a guaranteed starter at right-back while Andrew Robertson fills in on the other flank as the left-back. Both of them will have to pick and choose their moments to join in on the attack as they cannot afford to let the Palace wide players to get in behind them on the counter.
Midfield
Klopp might stick with the same midfield three that started against Fulham and Tottenham. Therefore, we can expect Jordan Henderson to resume his partnership with Georginio Wijnaldum and Curtis Jones at the centre of the park as they focus on passing the ball well to engineer some quality chances for the front players.
Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will make up the numbers on the bench as they provide cover for the midfield positions.
Attack
The usual Liverpool front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah will once again lead the charge up top. Even though Mane has struggled to score goals of late, yet Roberto Firmino stepped up when it mattered and scored the match-winner versus Spurs earlier this week.
Salah will be Klopp’s best source for a goal as the Egyptian wing wizard is currently leading the Premier League goal-scoring charts along with Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Tottenham’s Heung-min Son after banging in 11 league goals so far.
Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi will have to be content with a spot on the bench but could come on in the second half if needed.
