Crystal Palace v Liverpool: Preview, predicted line-ups and prediction

Crystal Palace have scored once in their last four league games, and that was a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on 11 October. Since then they have lost 5-0 at Brighton, 2-0 at home to Newcastle and 2-0 at Tottenham, and they have not found the net in any of those three.

The result is a place in the relegation zone. Palace are 18th on seven points from nine games, with a goal difference of minus 12, and Selhurst Park is where they have to start collecting points. Liverpool turn up on Sunday afternoon with their own problems, but nothing on the scale of the hosts'.

Palace have taken only one win from four home league games, and they have conceded 10 in those matches, an average of 2.5. They have kept one clean sheet in nine league games overall, and the 21 goals against in total is the second-worst record in the division among the sides shown in the table.

There is a small counter-argument. The hosts have scored six in those four home games, 1.5 per match, and have failed to score only once at Selhurst Park. Their problem is not at home in front of goal, it is the back three letting in a steady stream.

Liverpool are sixth on 15 points from nine games, one point behind fifth-placed Everton, who have played a game more. Their last outing was a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal on 1 November, and before that a 3-0 loss to Manchester City on 11 October, both at Anfield.

The visitors are a different side away. They have won three of four on the road, scored 7 and conceded 3, with clean sheets in two of those games. They have won only one of five at home. For a team under pressure to bounce back, this is a more comfortable assignment than it looks on paper.

Across their last nine league games Palace have won two, drawn one and lost six, scoring nine and conceding 21. Liverpool have won four, drawn three and lost two, scoring 11 and conceding nine. The records are far apart, and the defensive numbers carry the argument. Liverpool have kept four clean sheets in nine, Palace one. The caveat is that Liverpool's two defeats were their most recent home games, and both were goalless. Their attack is not flowing, so Palace cannot be written off as a complete pushover on the scoreboard.

Palace are 18th on seven points from nine games, level on points with nobody above them but one clear of Forest in 19th on six. Manchester United are 17th, also on seven points with a better goal difference, so the cushion to safety is nothing at all. A defeat here would leave Palace with one win in ten and the gap to 16th, Coventry on nine points with a game in hand, would stretch.

Liverpool are sixth on 15 points. Everton in fifth have 16 from ten games, and Chelsea in fourth have 16 from nine. A win would put Liverpool level with or above both on points, and back in the Champions League race. A third straight league defeat would not be catastrophic, but it would let Brentford, on 14, close in.

The last ten meetings split three wins each with four draws. They average that same 2.3 goals per game, with both teams scoring in six of the ten and more than 2.5 goals in five. The most recent was a 3-1 Liverpool win at Anfield on 25 April 2026. Before that Palace won 3-0 at Anfield in the League Cup in October 2025 and 2-1 at Selhurst Park in the league in September 2025.

That shows Palace have not been a soft touch for this opponent, and goals have been regular. But those games came when Palace were scoring freely. This season they average one goal per game, and the 60 per cent BTTS rate leans on them finding the net. We expect Liverpool to find it more easily than Palace, which makes a Liverpool win with both sides scoring or a low-margin away win the most likely shapes.

The shot count tells the story. Palace average 9.33 shots a game and 41 per cent possession over their nine league games. Liverpool average 15.11 shots and 53.7 per cent. Palace's expected goals against is 1.9 per game, compared with 1.21 for Liverpool.

Palace also concede 6.78 corners a game and win just three. A side living on the back foot gives away set-pieces, and Liverpool's 5.0 corners a match gives them regular chances to exploit that. Palace's own xG of 1.22 per game suggests they are due a goal or two, but not enough to hold off a side with the better defence.

Palace have played a 3-4-2-1 in all nine league games, and Liverpool a 4-2-3-1. We expect both to stick with the shape of their latest team sheets.

Crystal Palace: Henderson; Richards, Disasi, Canvot; Mingueza, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; McNeil, Pino; Mateta

Liverpool: Becker; Araújo, Jacquet, van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Nyoni; Barcola, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak

Crystal Palace v Liverpool kicks off at 14:00 GMT on Sunday 8 November at Selhurst Park. It is live on Sky Sports.

The strongest angle is the defensive gap. Liverpool have kept four clean sheets in nine league games and concede one a match, while Palace concede far more. That backs the away win, and Alexander Isak, who has six league goals, is the obvious scorer. The goals market is where the numbers pull against each other, so we have leaned on Palace's leaky back line rather than Liverpool's modest attack.