Image Credits: Imago Images
There are few teams in English football who could claim to have had Liverpool’s number quite like Crystal Palace have this season.
The Eagles have been an absolute nightmare for Arne Slot’s side across every competition they’ve met in, and heading into Saturday’s clash at Anfield, that unwanted record looms large over the entire fixture. It started as early as August at Wembley, when Palace beat Liverpool on penalties in the Community Shield after a 2-2 draw.
Then came the first Premier League meeting at Selhurst Park in September, where Palace were dominant in a 2-1 victory that left Liverpool shellshocked in south London.
On the last day of October, Palace made the trip to Anfield in the Carabao Cup fourth round and produced one of the evenings of their season, dismantling Liverpool 3-0 on their own turf. Ismaila Sarr netted a brace, with Yéremy Pino adding a third late on to send the Reds crashing out of the cup.
And now ahead of the final meeting of the season, manager Oliver Glasner has revealed that Adam Wharton is fit after sitting out their 0-0 draw with West Ham on Monday.
Meanwhile, Eddie Nketiah and Evann Guessand are out while former Reds defender Nathaniel Clyne is a doubt due to illness.
“Adam [Wharton] is good. He is fit and trained yesterday without any issues, so he’ll be available for Liverpool,” Glasner said in his pre-Liverpool press conference
“All the others are the same, so we’ve got no new injury concerns, which is good news.
“Of course, two injuries we still have are Eddie Nketiah and Evann Guessand. So they will miss this game.”
“One question mark we have is Nathaniel Clyne,” added Glasner. “He was ill yesterday, but then was better in the evening. He’s being assessed at the moment. But also it looks like he is available.”
Glasner was also quizzed on whether the upcoming UEFA Conference League semi-final first leg against Shakhtar Donetsk, set to be played in Poland, would factor into his team selection.
“No, no,” the Austrian said. “Saturday to Thursday feels like it’s a very long spell in between. We’re just preparing for the Liverpool game and just talking to the players.”
Meanwhile for Liverpool, Arne Slot confirmed that Freddie Woodman will likely be starting in goal with a late decision to be made on Alisson.