Crystal Palace are one of five teams yet to win in the Premier League this season and are not given much of a chance of ending that run against Liverpool on Saturday.
The Reds have won eight of nine matches this season, boast an impressive record at Selhurst Park and are fancied to stay top of the table going into the international break.
Team news
Defenders Chris Richards and Chadi Riad and midfielder Cheikh Doucoure remain sidelined for Palace, while forward Matheus Franca is close to a return.
Harvey Elliott remains an absentee for Liverpool, who may also be without Federico Chiesa.
Palace finished last season like a train with 19 points from their last seven matches, a sequence kick-started with a 1-0 win at Anfield.
In contrast, this term they have collected just three points from their opening six matches.
Only Southampton (3) have scored fewer goals than Palace (5), whose shot conversion rate (6) is also the second-lowest in the league, again behind the Saints.
Palace have conceded more Premier League goals against Liverpool than any other opponent.
Liverpool have won eight out of nine matches in all competitions including all three away games in the league.
The Reds are unbeaten on their last 10 visits to Selhurst Park, winning nine of those matches.
Prediction
This is the fifth time in the Premier League that Palace are facing Liverpool with the Reds top of the table – the Eagles have lost each of the previous four by an aggregate score of 17-4.
That is the size of the task facing Oliver Glasner’s men, who are not playing terribly but cannot buy a win.
This fixture should come at a good time for them with Liverpool arriving in the capital less than three days after beating Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League, a performance that left manager Arne Slot underwhelmed.
On the flip side, it was yet another win for Liverpool who are hugely confident and Slot can bring in plenty of quality off the bench if he wants to freshen things up.
Glasner’s options are less generous but he can still bank on the likes of Eberechi Eze, Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta to ask questions of the Reds’ defence.
Palace go into the weekend in 18th place in the table but ninth in the shots-per-game table, in which they average 13.8, more than high-fliers like Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle.
They will have to be positive as they go in search of an overdue first win and while their accuracy can be questioned with just five goals scored, they can rack up chances.
