Liverpool will take on Crystal Palace in their second club friendly match at the Singapore National Stadium in Singapore on July 15. Liverpool lost their first friendly of the season after losing the Bangkok Cup against arch-rivals Manchester United 4-0. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace have played two friendlies so far, winning the most recent encounter in thrilling fashion against Scottish club Millwall.
Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp decided to rest key players and field a youthful starting XI against arch-rivals Manchester United on Tuesday. In contrast, new United manager, Erik Ten Hag played several important players and it goes without saying that the Red Devils had the upper hand in the contest from the very beginning.
They eventually ended up capitalizing on it and even though Klopp made changes to the XI in the second half and brought on the likes of Trent Alexander Arnold, Dawin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, he couldn’t avoid his side’s 4-0 loss to their bitter foes in Thailand in what was the final of the Bangkok Cup.
While Ten Hag beginning his United career with a statement would have been far from the ideal result that Jurgen Klopp would have wanted. The Merseyside giants will now have to find a way to bounce back after a disappointing loss when they are up against Crystal Palace on Friday. Following this battle, Liverpool will also have to play matches against RB Leipzig, Salzburg and Strasbourg in friendlies before their pre-season comes to an end.
The serious business for the Reds will begin with an encounter against last season’s Premier League champions Manchester City in the Community Shield towards the end of July. Liverpool, who finished second in the Premier League last season, will begin their 2022-23 campaign with a fixture against newly promoted side Fulham just a week later.
So far, Liverpool have been active in the transfer market. Although club legend Sadio Mane has departed to join Bayern Munich, they have brought in Fabio Carvalho, Calvin Ramsey as well as the statement signing this summer, Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez.
85 million pound signing Nunez was the centre of attention after he endured a horror show in front of goal in the second half against Manchester United. Although clips of his mispasses and goal misses went trending on social media, the former Benfica target man is obviously new to Klopp’s methods and will take some time to gel in.
It is also believed by many that the bulk of the club’s summer transfer business has been completed. Boss Jurgen Klopp is happy with the squad that has been assembled for the new season and believes that he has enough resources to compete for titles once again.
Liverpool would’ve been gutted given how the season ended for them last term. While their bid for the quadruple was on until the final stages, Klopp’s side eventually lost the Premier League title to Manchester City on the final day and even suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in the final of the UEFA Champions League.
However, they had done enough to secure the domestic double of FA Cup and EFL Cup in 2021-22 and will be looking to add to that silverware this time around.
Crystal Palace, on the other hand, finished last season in 12th position. In his very first full campaign as head coach of the side, Patrick Vieira certainly impressed a lot and helped Palace finish higher than what seemed probable during the middle of the season when Roy Hodgson was sacked from his position as head coach.
The Eagles have already played two pre-season friendlies so far. They began preparations for a new season with a 1-1 draw against Accrington Stanley on July before securing a thrilling 5-4 victory against Millwall on Saturday.
Following the encounters on their own training ground, Palace have already travelled to Singapore and are preparing for the intense clash with Liverpool. They will then fly to Australia to take on fellow Premier League sides Manchester United and Leeds United in Melbourne and Perth respectively.
Patrick Vieira’s team will end their preseason following the last friendly of the summer against French side Montpellier on July 30. Seven days later, they will begin their 2022-23 Premier League season at home against Vieira’s former side Arsenal.
Much like Liverpool, Palace have also signed 3 new players during the current summer window. They have brought in Cheick Doucoure, Sam Johnstone and Malcolm Ebiowei. Departures have been limited in comparison, with only Martin Kelly one of the three players to leave the club following the end of their contracts.
LIV vs CRY, Club Friendly 2022/23
Date: 15th July, 2022
Time: 6:30 PM IST
Venue: Singapore National Stadium, Singapore
FORM GUIDE:
Liverpool Club Friendlies form:
- L
Liverpool form (all competitions):
- W-W-W-W-L-L
Crystal Palace Club Friendlies form:
- D-W
Crystal Palace form (all competitions):
- W-D-L-W-D-W
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Liverpool wins: 35
Draws: 11
Crystal Palace wins: 14
TEAM NEWS:
Liverpool Team News:
Diogo Jota remains a major doubt for Klopp as the Portuguese forward is suffering from a hamstring problem and he is unlikely to be risked during the pre season. With that exception, however, Liverpool did not suffer fresh injury problems during their four goal humiliation at the hands of Manchester United.
Without a doubt, Jurgen Klopp will look to make wholesale changes and shuffle the pack once again. However, this time, the German might be tempted into starting with a strong first XI which may see new signing Darwin Nunez, who came off the bench against United, making his first start for the club.
Virgil Van Dijk, Fabinho and Thiago could also make a return to the starting XI in order to get some rhythm flowing again and there’s also a spot in the final third for talisman Mohamed Salah who recently extended his contract to become the highest paid player in the history of the club.
Crystal Palace Team News:
Crystal Palace, on the other hand, are missing several important first team players and many of them will not be making the trip to the far east because of fitness as well as visa issues. Included in the list of players are Marc Guehi, Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Christian Benteke, Will Hughes and Cheikhou Kouyate.
With just 10 senior players available for the clash on Friday, one can expect Patrick Vieira to hand opportunities to several young players who might also make their first appearances for the club during this contest.
The likes of Vicente Guaita, Joachim Anderson, Nathaniel Clyne, Tyrick Mitchell, Joel Ward and Luka Milivojevic should all start from the beginning of the contest. Vieira might also field a front three of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Odsonne Edward and Jordan Ayew to take on the mighty Liverpool backline.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Thiago, Fabinho, Henderson; Diaz, Nunez, Salah
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Clyne, Andersen, Ward, Mitchell; Milivojevic, Raymond, Boateng; J Ayew, Mateta, Edouard
Predictions:
Liverpool will be extremely eager to bounce back from their disappointing loss at the hands of Manchester United. Although it was a pre season friendly, a defeat against your arch rivals still stings and the Reds will be desperate to reclaim their bragging rights. With a potentially strong starting XI, Liverpool will have more than enough resources to annihilate an already depleted Crystal Palace side that is missing several key players.
They will obviously find it difficult to match the tempo and quality of the Merseyside giants over the course of the full 90 minutes and Klopp might bring on the youngsters to rotate his big guns in the second half. Expect Liverpool to register a dominant win here.
LIV vs CRY Fantasy XI No. 1
LIV vs CRY Fantasy XI No. 2
