CRYSTAL PALACE VS LIVERPOOL: PREDICTED LINEUP

Liverpool travel to Selhurst Park tonight (19:45 GMT kickoff) to take on Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace outfit. Victory will move the Reds up to 7th place, 4 points off Spurs in 4th. Here’s how Jürgen Klopp could line his side up for the encounter. For a match preview, you can head over here.

The manager reported a few knocks in the aftermath of the hiding at the hands of Real Madrid. He stressed on the need for changes to be made to the side in his pre-match press conference. We could as such see a handful of alterations to the XI that started each of the last two.

In goal will be Alisson Becker. The Brazilian stopper will be smarting from the grave error he committed on Tuesday night which saw Real pull level on the night. It was a carbon copy of the gift he handed Guedes when Wolves visited Anfield in the FA Cup last month.

For a goalkeeper of his calibre to be making the same error twice in such a short space of time is disheartening. He has been Liverpool’s player of the year this campaign and it’s a shame he contributed to Tuesday night’s farce. He will be aiming to make up for it here. A third successive league clean sheet will go a long way.

The back four is certain to see a change or two, with Joe Gomez going off against Real with a suspected hamstring injury. Injured or not, Gomez would have been dropped for this after being ruthlessly exposed on the biggest stage.

Joel Matip, who was overlooked for Gomez as a result of his own indifferent form, came on for him and is now set set for a start here. That is despite Ibrahima Konaté recovering from his own hamstring injury. The young Frenchman will have to be carefully managed considering his checkered injury past.

We could also see Kostas Tsimikas at left back. Andy Robertson has put in a lot of hard yards over the past few weeks and has seen his productivity suffer for it in the last two matches especially. He could be due a breather, whilst Trent continues at right back.

The Scouser’s laid back style means he doesn’t put in as many kilometers as his best mate. There’s also the fact that Calvin Ramsay, who was signed to provide backup and competition, is now out for the season with a meniscus injury. Trent will have to plough on.

In midfield, Stefan Bajcetic is due a rest after seven consecutive starts in the space of a little under five weeks. It’s easy to forget he’s only 18 and has just 15 senior appearances under his belt. It would be wise not to burn him out.

Naby Keita could be handed a start in his stead on the left of midfield, joining Fabinho and Henderson in the engine room. It is a midfield trio that has played together on several occasions to good effect and could be set for a reunion tonight.

Upfront, we’re likely to see Cody Gakpo handed a breather. The Dutchman has started every single game since joining from PSV Eindhoven in January. That was partly out of necessity, with Firmino, Jota, Diaz and briefly Darwin all unavailable through injury.

With Firmino and Jota getting valuable minutes off the bench since their return, we should see one of them start upfront. Bobby is the likelier of the two as he was out injured for a much shorter period of time. He will most likely join Darwin and Salah to complete the XI.

Predicted team:

Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Fabinho, Henderson, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Darwin.

Subs: Kelleher, Konaté, Robertson, Milner, Bajcetic, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elliott, Jota, Gakpo.