Liverpool will visit Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in London on Monday, May 5 (12:00 PM Pacific) in a key match for the Reds in their fight for the title. Meanwhile, the Eagles are in the middle of the table after a good season, as they’ve succeeded in their main objective – to avoid relegation and play in the Premier League next season.
Crystal Palace Can Relax
Crystal Palace are in a great moment despite they lost their last match, playing at home against one of the best teams of the tournament, Manchester City. Before that game, they had won five matches in a row, including victories over Chelsea at Selhurst Park and against Everton at Goodison Park.
The Eagles are currently in the 11th position, one point behind Stoke City and four above Swansea City. More importantly,they are more than satisfied with their performance this season because with two games to go they’re not dealing with the possibility of relegation to the Championship.
The boss Tony Pulis won the last Manager-of-the-month award, and he’s one of the main contenders for the Manager-of-the-year award, along with his Monday opponent Brendan Rodgers.
Pulis spoke about Monday game, telling that it’s essential for them to finish the season in a good manner at home: “I care about this game and I am sure the players do. It is our last home game of the season so it is very, very important that we try and finish on a high. That is our tribute to the supporters for the way they have got behind us this year. We owe them a performance – and everyone in the Barclays Premier League a performance.”
For Monday’s match, Pulis can rely on the whole squad since they’ve no suspended or injured players.
Reds: No Time For Mistakes
On the other hand, Liverpool are at the second place with 80 points, the same as Manchester City but with a worse goal difference (+59 vs. +50), and one more than Chelsea. If they want to win the Premier League, they need two victories in the next two matches with a huge goal difference or expect the Citizens to lose some points against Aston Villa or West Ham (both at Etihad Stadium).
The Reds are the best team in Premier League this year: they won 14 matches (eleven in a row), tied two and lose only one, against Chelsea last Sunday. They were the favorites to win the championship until Chelsea beat them at Anfield, and after Manchester City defeated Everton at Goodison Park last Saturday. The Reds don’t depend on themselves now but they’ll give everything to obtain the league title, a tournament that they last achieved in 1990.
For this match manager Brendan Rodgers can’t rely on midfielder Jordan Henderson, who was suspended for three matches after seeing the red card due to a tackle on Samir Nasri in the match against City. The Welshman Joe Allen will replace him, as he did in the games against Norwich City and Chelsea.
In addition, striker Daniel Sturridge is in doubt due to a hamstring injury. Sturridge was in the bench against Chelsea, and he got into the pitch in the second half when Liverpool was 0-1 down because the team needed more goal threat, but his form wasn’t good.
Nevertheless, the boss said that Sturridge is getting better and he’ll wait until Monday to see if he’s ready to play from the beginning. In case he doesn’t play, Coutinho will play as a striker along with Suárez and Sterling, and Lucas Leiva in the midfield.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool Prediction
This will be a very tough match for Liverpool. The Eagles have demonstrated to be a very difficult team, as they defeated two top-teams like Chelsea and Everton in the last weeks. In addition, I believe that Liverpool players are in a bad mood after they lost against Chelsea and Manchester City won over Everton, and perhaps they’ll be a bit crestfallen.
On the other hand, Crystal Palace have nothing to lose and they’re very motivated after a great streak, despite their loss against the Citizens. My prediction is a 1-0 victory for Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool TV Schedule
The Crystal Palace vs Liverpool match will be televised on NBCSN (USA) at 12:00 PM Pacific. For all other regionscheck LiveSoccerTV.
