LIVERPOOL VS. CRYSTAL PALACE
| Wednesday, October 29th |
League Cup Fourth Round | Anfield
7:45PM BST/3:45PM EST
Crystal Palace have beaten Liverpool twice this season already, which doesn’t make you feel great going into this one.
It is worth being said that of those two defeats, one came via penalties in the Community Shield, a match that is kind of a competitive match…but the pattern of conceding that has dogged the side recently is visible then as well. The league defeat is if anything more telling: the Reds lost due to a lapse in concentration late.
Chris Richards will miss this one for Palace, while Oliver Glasner has confirmed that Jaydee Canvot and Walter Benitez will start on Wednesday. As expected, Crystal Palace will play in a back three. Errors were made in the loss against Arsenal at the weekend, but the Palace defense was nonetheless largely very strong, conceding just three shots on target (seven total) and an xG conceded of just 0.17 in open play, with 0.75 of Arsenal’s xG accrued via set play. Though this is somewhat typical of Arsenal, it also speaks to a pattern of strong Palace performances — which will not delight a Liverpool side that has struggled to find the net against strong defenses.
Palace come into this one after two straight losses, last managing a win against Dynamo Kiev in the UEFA Conference League at the beginning of the month. Since then, they have lost to Everton, AEK Larnaca, and Arsenal (failing to score in the latter two), and drawing 3-3 against Bournemouth at home. Despite their clear strengths, Palace have had a mixed time as well, and should Liverpool not have gone on a run of disappointment following the late loss in the capital the difficulty of the schedule might have given some excuse.
As Glasner and Arne Slot have noticed, Palace play until the final whistle. Whatever Liverpool side take the pitch on Wednesday will have a true test on their hands.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Ekitiké, Gakpo
The run of losses has made this competition more annoying than anything. In usual times this would be a good chance to play fringe players, but a Liverpool side so completely lacking in rhythm, chemistry, and composure would gain little through rotation. Arne Slot might well start more starters than he would have wanted to in this one, and suddenly the worst-case-scenario (another loss) carries a lot more weight than this round of the cup would normally, as a rotated side — win or lose — does nothing to fix the issues in the starting XI.
The Liverpool boss might prioritize playing the senior players arguably most out of form, meaning (at least for me personally) that Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah might be the first names on the team sheet. Strong performers might well be given a rest, so…Dom Szoboszlai might be rested for more minutes than expected, thought that might well mean coming off early rather than finding himself on the bench to start. The lineup is a real head-scratcher, and anything bar a fully rotated squad feels like a logical choice from where I sit (and that includes fiddling with the formation).
Should Alexander Isak be fit it might be interesting to see him start with both Salah and Hugo Ekitiké (who has been a strong performer largely, but the red card and ensuing suspension complicates things). Regardless, Liverpool know what to expect from Palace. Whether they know what to do to combat it for a full 90 minutes is anyone’s guess.
Injuries make the lineup hard to predict as well. Though just Jeremie Frimpong, Alisson, and Giovanni Leoni are confirmed absences, Curtis Jones went off with injury last match while both Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak missed it entirely with injury. Though this will be a chance to play those returning as they regain fitness, Slot will not want to risk injury recurrence in a competition that feels more meaningful for overall squad form and performance than it does for progression.
It is worth nothing that Freddie Woodman could start for the Reds given the pattern of rotating goalkeepers in this competition. Georgi Mamardashvili has become the main starter in Alisson’s absence here, and Woodman could thus step in. That said, with Liverpool’s leaky defensive record of late, the back five is certainly not an exception should Slot want to use this one to add chemistry.
Liverpool come into this one with one win in their last five outings, and should they lose Wednesday they’ll move to six losses in seven. Torrid times.
Small Note: Still no VAR at this stage of the competition.
The Managers Have Their Say
Arne Slot did not hold a press conference for this one. I can’t say I blame him; I’m upset I have to talk about the Reds as well. From his program notes: “Of course we have already faced Palace in the Premier League this season and the result on that occasion was not what we would have hoped for. Credit to Palace for that. Their winning goal came very late on that occasion after we had equalised following a difficult first half for us, so we should be aware not just of the problems they can cause but also of their ability to keep going until the final whistle.”
Oliver Glasner: “We have taken one point [since the last international break], that is fact. Not the best output but we didn’t drop our performances compared to the games before. We watched the Arsenal game back and we gave them two finishes, two shots from open play over 100 minutes at the Emirates. Yes they were better than we were in set-pieces, that’s why they won the game.”
The Officials
Referee: Craig Pawson Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis and Matthew Wilkes Fourth Official: Andrew Kitchen
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