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Team News

The hosts have named an youthful side, with the vast bulk of regular starters omitted. Kerkez, aiming to regain form, is the only player to start again after the 3-2 defeat at Brentford last weekend. Backup shot-stopper the goalkeeper and 18-year-old Northern Ireland winger Kieran Morrison make their club debuts, while the lineup also features 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha and 18-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni. Nobody on their bench is above 21 years; Kaide Gordon is the bench player with most games with nine first-team outings on his resumé.

The visitors by contrast keep half a dozen from the team selected for the narrow loss at Arsenal on Sunday. The defender, The centre-back, Daniel Muñoz, The winger, Yéremy Pino and The midfielder all hold onto their shirts. The Senegalese international has several finishes against the Reds in eight appearances for Palace and Watford, while one of the players coming into the side, Nketiah, got the match-winning strike when the teams met at Selhurst Park last month.

Match Squads

Anfield outfit: Freddie Woodman, Calvin Ramsay, The youngster, Joe Gomez, The left-back, Wataru Endo, Kerkez, Kieran Morrison, Mac Allister, The attacker, Chiesa.
Substitutes: The sub, Gordon, Pilling, The talent, The youngster, Figueroa, The sub, Lucky, The reserve.

The Eagles: Benitez, Canvot, Lacroix, Guehi, The full-back, Hughes, Kamada, The wing-back, Ismaila Sarr, Pino, Nketiah.
Substitutes: The keeper, The defender, Lerma, Uche, The forward, Nathaniel Clyne, Esse, The talent, Cardines.

Match referee: Craig Pawson (Yorkshire).

Match Background

The home side have often struggled against Crystal Palace as challenging rivals. Not always – they lead the head-to-head – but when the London club perform a hit on the hosts, they strike hard, and hit hard. The famous 1990 clash. The memorable comeback. This season’s Community Shield. The game at Selhurst last month that triggered this astonishing collapse of Arne Slot’s champion side, the beginning of a poor run in a run of poor results.

Consider another set of results into the mix. Of the recent encounters between the clubs, Palace have secured three victories (we’re counting the charity match as a win), the home side just a pair. More concerning the hosts are the latest outcomes at Liverpool’s stadium: Palace have won one and drawn two of the previous three. Crystal Palace have a strong upper hand over the home team at the moment.

However, the away side are in a poor run of their own. They have suffered three defeats of their last four matches in every tournament, not securing a win domestically since that earlier described slump-starting Liverpool’s trip to Selhurst. So here are a couple of teams who would benefit from a boost to turn their year around. That alone should give us a decent opportunity of some entertaining action tonight, though any long-term significance may hinge on what lineups the two managers decide to put out; they’re unlikely to be established starters. We will see about that in due course. Kick-off is at 19:45 GMT. The action is about to start!