Topic: Match Preview - Crystal Palace vs Liverpool - August 20th 2018 20:00pm

[Nessy76]

You would put Milner on the bench after his showing last week??

Not an easy call, and I certainly won't complain if Klopp picks him. Just looking at the opposition and the best way to counter them, for me Milner may not be the best option we have. Not much in it, though.

Great that we finally have those kind of options.

[sirjames]

and Clyne's extra height could be an asset here.

they are the same height. TAA should & will start.

[phil236849]

Clyne's extra height

Compared with Eddie Tagseth maybe, but I am not sure that is relevant.

[Robinred]

I was at the corresponding game last season - a treat from my Palace season-ticket holding son-in-law, for my 70th birthday.

Mane was harshly booked for diving (it was in fact a penalty, but in the aftermath the media all sided with the ref.). In any event, we didn’t perform well, and were slightly fortunate to win. Against an historically bogey team - though not of late - that was very encouraging.

I don’t know how Klopp will set up for this. I take HBHR’s point about now having a squad that allows considerable flexibility for ‘tailoring’ line-ups to negate opposition’s perceived main threats.

But given the focus of so many posts, just an actual fact to consider: all three of TAA, Gini Wijnaldum and Nathaniel Clyne are 1.75 metres tall - that’s a shade under 5’9”.

[Nessy76]

Compared with Eddie Tagseth maybe, but I am not sure that is relevant.

At full back, it is pretty much irrelevant.

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

Only Lovren and Brewster didn’t train this week..

Pretty much at full strength ...

I'm not even sure Matip makes the bench. Who misses out for him? Clyne? Lallana? The first XI and bench were as strong as you'd like against West Ham. Maybe Henderson starts over someone like Wijnaldum but Matip doesn't shift Wijnaldum off the bench either.

Good headache for Klopp.

[Ben87]

they are the same height. TAA should & will start.

Transfermarkt.com has Trent as 0.05m taller

[Not that Gareth]

Not expecting a walk in the park but we should have enough to take all the points. I would be tempted to keep the same team as last time with maybe Henderson the only player I would consider bringing in.

Probably already mentioned but I did not realise that Sakho and Tomkins as a defensive partnership have not lost a game when played together, something like 14 games unbeaten. I fancy our front three to bust that little run of form 

[Davidbowie]

If I remember correctly, the owl had his players target TAA and the right side of our defence in the game last season.

He'll surely look to do the same again and get Zaha running at TAA and Benteke will be on Gomez.

We just need to quieten their home crowd and I'd imagine our attack will be too much for them defensively and I'd expect us to win. 1-3.

[dptlfc83]

he might not be as good as TAA but describing him as really poor is a massive exaggeration ...

I disagree mate, a lot of our attacks broke down in the past due to clyne. TAA is a massive upgrade in the attacking 3rd.

[AshLFC]

Still a tricky game this one for me. I'm glad we're getting it out the way early on. West Ham didn't test us really, but these surely will. They've got some jinky players, and they always create a good atmosphere so if we can get the win it'll put down an early marker. Even though its only palace   

[Lolo]

Milner, Fabinho and Keita is the starting midfield for me.

[hesbighesred]

he might not be as good as TAA but describing him as really poor is a massive exaggeration ...

I don't think he's a liability - he works really hard to get into decent positions and provide overlaps - it's just that he has pretty much zero creativity or finesse once he gets there. Given time and space no doubt he can reliably find a team-mate free in space, but it's rare we have either, let alone both, of those things at the same time - which means players need something extra - to beat a man, to shape a great cross, to thread a pass through a tight gap - and he doesn't have those things in his locker. To his credit, he knows his limits too and keeps it safe, but it is an issue when breaking a team down is the biggest problem.

That said, when Clyne was last playing regularly there were fewer players in the rest of the side who could do that job. This season we have players in every single position on the field who can contribute to breaking teams down, so there could well be games where his experience, solidity and physicality are more useful than TAA's finesse, especially when the latter is at a stage where he still needs his time managed well.

[hesbighesred]

Incidentall, I hope we fucking rip Crystal Palace to absolute shreds. It's nearly always a tight fixture, this one. We rarely seem to have it easy against Palace and, as much as I dislike being fair to Owlface, his approach is extremely effective against better teams, and they have some threatening players too which, again to his reluctant credit, he does tend to make use of (rather than just parking the bus with no plan of attack whatsoever).

So, far all those reasons, and because it's always delightful to see that face rub in the other dugout, it woudl be fucking delightful if we could take them to pieces like a psychopathic 8 year old with his best friend's ant-farm.

[keyop]

We'll be too formidable for them.

9-0

[Clint Eastwood]

Transfermarkt.com has Trent as 0.05m taller

Weird way of saying 5 centimetres

Clyne's pretty bad in the air, maybe worse than Trent. He's a great defender, but that's his weakness.

[Ben87]

Weird way of saying 5 centimetres

Clyne's pretty bad in the air, maybe worse than Trent. He's a great defender, but that's his weakness.

Hahaha! They had the heights on there as 1.80m and 1.75m, so I just went with 0.05m without actually thinking what it related to. 5cm would have sounded a lot more normal though!

[wige]

I don't mean the worst, I mean physically weak. He gets bullied so easily. He's also too nice, there was an incident at home to Sevilla last season where one of there players went down, the game carried on and matip was helping him up whilst Sevilla were breaking on us. He's not good enough in my opinion.

Don't think there's much there I disagree with, though I don't remember the Sevilla incident.

Agree with Djozer too, Matip is fine when we're playing a team with no real intention to attack us. Don't fancy him at all in a battle though.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Based on Klopp's presser, he's full aware of the difficulty Palace will present on Monday and he talked about staying angry and aggressive and not letting the media ''positivity'' get to anyone's head

[Snoopy29]

If I remember correctly, the owl had his players target TAA and the right side of our defence in the game last season.

He'll surely look to do the same again and get Zaha running at TAA and Benteke will be on Gomez.

We just need to quieten their home crowd and I'd imagine our attack will be too much for them defensively and I'd expect us to win. 1-3.

You are correct.
That goal we conceded against Burnley last season also shows Trent's strength. The goal happened to have come from a 50/50 challenge from TAA who didn't win the header. TAA is becoming one of the best right-backs in the footballing world and is incredible, but I hope he can improve on his strengths and ruthless aggression he will need to against these teams.
I'm hoping that with the addition of Fabinho to help out the defence, TAA will perform far more efficiently in these games. Emre Can would have been abit slower to help out.

[Drinks Sangria]

Had a nose round the Palace forums out of interest. They are extremely confident of getting a win against us.

Am I the only one who thought they were largely outplayed and a bit lucky against Fulham?

Don’t get me wrong, they’re not a bad side and I expect them to be awkward and difficult, but I’d still back us to get a positive result. A Fulham frontline and midfield that’s not played together in a competitive game isn’t the same test that we’re going to be.

[Gerry Attrick]

A win there would be utopia.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Had a nose round the Palace forums out of interest. They are extremely confident of getting a win against us.

Am I the only one who thought they were largely outplayed and a bit lucky against Fulham?

Don’t get me wrong, they’re not a bad side and I expect them to be awkward and difficult, but I’d still back us to get a positive result. A Fulham frontline and midfield that’s not played together in a competitive game isn’t the same test that we’re going to be.

The first 20 minutes will be key, get at them early and suss out the crowd and score early, keep the pressure and minimize set piece opportunities. They will be defending deep so we have to be cautious of getting caught on the break.

Last time it was tough but that was also a noon kick off coming off a international break and a champions league midweek game in mind.

We should be ready for this and playing as good as we did last week.

[Nessy76]

Had a nose round the Palace forums out of interest. They are extremely confident of getting a win against us.

Am I the only one who thought they were largely outplayed and a bit lucky against Fulham?

Don’t get me wrong, they’re not a bad side and I expect them to be awkward and difficult, but I’d still back us to get a positive result. A Fulham frontline and midfield that’s not played together in a competitive game isn’t the same test that we’re going to be.

It's a good test in that Palace are exactly the sort of mid-table club who the title winners will beat while the rest of the top four might struggle with them. Won't define the season either way, but a win, (and we really should win, man for man we're above them in every position and tactically it's Klopp v Hodgson ffs) and we lay down a small marker.

[CraigDS]

Personally think we'll grab a couple of early goals which will see them have to come out a little more.

[planet-terror]

Fab op again thanks. Always loved the spyin kop.
Will be a toughy but im confident

[Lynndenberries]

Had a nose round the Palace forums out of interest. They are extremely confident of getting a win against us.

Am I the only one who thought they were largely outplayed and a bit lucky against Fulham?

Don’t get me wrong, they’re not a bad side and I expect them to be awkward and difficult, but I’d still back us to get a positive result. A Fulham frontline and midfield that’s not played together in a competitive game isn’t the same test that we’re going to be.

A draw would have been a fair result in my opinion. Fulham created a few decent chances, nothing clear cut, although Schurrle should have been awarded a penalty. I thought Fabri was incredibly poor for both goals. He never should have been beaten near post by Schlupp, and I honestly have no idea what he was thinking for Zaha's goal, which essentially put the game to bed.

We put ourselves in an incredibly difficult position in March by allowing a goal so early, yet still managed to pull out a win. If we start out well, which I expect we will, we should be able to put 2 or 3 past these. Benteke and Zaha caused us problems in the first 15 minutes and then briefly after the break, but I think we will be better prepared this time around, especially without the distraction of a midweek quarterfinal match hanging in the back of the minds of many players.

[fiveways]

this will be a great 'welcome to the Premier League' for Alisson - how will he cope... my prediction is 3-0 to the reds :-))

[Kloppo.]

Palace have a good thrust about them, we mustn't let them get behind us, that'd get messy.

I'm fairly certain we'll penetrate them a few times - 3 nil to the Reds 

[swoopy]

Palace have a good thrust about them, we mustn't let them get behind us, that'd get messy.

I'm fairly certain we'll penetrate them a few times - 3 nil to the Reds 

"Thrust"... "Penetrate" ... "Get behind us" ... and your username ... all happy coincidences I'm sure

[Red-Soldier]

Palace have a good thrust about them, we mustn't let them get behind us, that'd get messy.

I'm fairly certain we'll penetrate them a few times - 3 nil to the Reds 

Classy 

[Upinsmoke]

Classy 

[rob1966]

I've deleted the Hodgson period at the club  out of my brain entirely.  There's just a big 6 month gap

It's something I keep - it serves as a reminder that if we take our eyes off the ball, the club can again end up in dire circumstances. Also makes me appreciate the path FSG and Klopp have taken us down.

[Kloppo.]

I see Michael Oliver is the ref, I like him, he's always fair and gives it both ways.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

It's something I keep - it serves as a reminder that if we take our eyes off the ball, the club can again end up in dire circumstances. Also makes me appreciate the path FSG and Klopp have taken us down.

It made me hate football, something I've obviously loved all my life, and I couldn't find an ounce of enjoyment out of anything football related during that time.

[McrRed]

Palace have a good thrust about them, we mustn't let them get behind us, that'd get messy.

I'm fairly certain we'll penetrate them a few times - 3 nil to the Reds 

Is that you John?

[Anthony]

Palace have a good thrust about them, we mustn't let them get behind us, that'd get messy.

I'm fairly certain we'll penetrate them a few times - 3 nil to the Reds 

[daggerdoo]

It made me hate football, something I've obviously loved all my life, and I couldn't find an ounce of enjoyment out of anything football related during that time.

I was the same and to be honest. I still think it took so much out of me that I've never been the same person since, seriously. I'd check every game, fixtures, scores, transfers. Never been the same.

[PIPA23]

unleash Xherdan from the start.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

unleash Xherdan from the start.

in place of who??