After Thursday night’s crucial win in Russia, the Reds prepare to take on a resurgent Crystal Palace side, whose away record in recent times sets the game up for a fierce encounter.
Ahead of the game, I spoke to Jay Crame, the founder and editor of Crystal Palace fan site The Eagles Beak about the game and what Liverpool fans can expect from Alan Pardew’s side.
Palace sit in midtable currently. How would you say the season has gone so far for your team?
I would say that our season has gone better than most of us expected, even with the blip we have suffered recently. At one stage, we were second only to Manchester City and our run of games has not been particularly kind so we have fared quite well. Injuries have taken a hold of late and that is far from an excuse when we have stated a few times that we have the strongest squad we have had for years. Happy, for sure, but room for improvement which is no bad thing.
Palace’s results recently indicates that they perform better away from home. Why do you think that is?
It hasn’t been quite the same as last season when our home form was disastrous. Just think where we could have finished if we had beaten some sides at Selhurst? It seems that we find the freedom to play when we’re away from home, this works especially well with our pacey players. At home, teams come to South London these days with a much more rigid setup and we have found it hard to break teams down when the impetus is on us to do that. Hopefully, we will continue to see a distinct improvement at home this season.
Jurgen Klopp has obviously recently just taken over at Liverpool. What have you thought of the performances so far under the German?
Being a follower of German football and Borussia Dortmund in particular, I have an awful lot of time for Klopp. He has been a breath of fresh air in the Premier League and given time at Anfield, I am certain that he will do an excellent job. It has been a great start with the German at the helm, but there will be bad patches. It is how he and the team react to times like those which remains to be seen. I do wonder what he makes of the squad of players he has at his disposal and whether there will be changes in the January window or next summer.
Are there any Liverpool players that you feel Palace should be wary of on Sunday?
On recent form, it has to be Philippe Coutinho. He was impressive against Chelsea and he plays in that difficult position to pick up, between the midfield and front line which gives him opportunities to score goals like the two he got at Stamford Bridge. On the downside for you guys, he is as likely to have an ineffective game as he is to have a good one. Hopefully for us, it will be the latter on Sunday!
Who have been the standout performers this season for Palace, and who should Liverpool keep a close eye on come Sunday afternoon?
Yohan Cabaye was our marquee signing in the summer and he has certainly not disappointed. In fact, he has proved a lot more than we expected him to with his tough tackling and hunger for the game. A real sign of intent by the club to go and get a player of his quality, and a shrewd one too seeing as he wants to play for his country France who host the Euros next summer. Elsewhere, Scott Dann has been in fine form as ever and I am simply stunned that he has not worked his way into the England squad.
Finally, score prediction?
It promises to be a tight one, especially as you have just had a successful away trip in the Europa League midweek. That could work in our favour even though the game is kicking off late afternoon on Sunday – who knows? I think it will be a 1-1 draw.
