Liverpool v Palace

Anfield, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Luis Suarez announced his return to the Premier League with a well-taken brace as he spearheaded Liverpool to a 1-3 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Daniel Sturridge grabbed the first goal as he continues his impressive goal-scoring form this season and Liverpool fans will be delighted at the prospect of ‘SAS’ reuniting to lead the line for the Reds.

Daniel Sturridge’s willingness to have a go when in sight of goal is the sign of a striker with confidence in his own ability. Sturridge has been shooting with abandon this season, with 15 attempts on goal, the joint 4th highest in the league, with 53.3% of those finding their way on-target.

Indeed, Brendan Rodgers will surely be incredibly excited at the prospect of both Sturridge and Suarez operating in tandem now that the Uruguayan’s ban is over. Together the pair have now combined for 7 goals this season, giving them a goal on average once every 2.9 strikes they’ve had on goal. You can find Sturridge and Suarez at 11/17 and 11/21 respectively to find the net at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.

Lucas Leiva continues to quietly go about his work this season, winning the joint highest number of tackles in the league with 32 according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

Simon Mignolet remains the busiest keeper in the league, with a total of 29 saves so far this term. For all the Reds’ good form, Brendan Rodgers will be keen to see his back four provide him with greater protection to stifle more attempts on his goal as the season moves forward.

Crystal Palace once again failed to score as they lost 2-0 away to Southampton last time out. Ian Holloway will be desperate for his side to find some form this weekend as they look to work their way out of the Premier League’s bottom 3.

Mile Jedinak looks like being an increasingly crucial player for Ian Holloway’s side this season. So far he is the only Palace player to have broken the 100-barrier for passes completed in the opponent’s half (104).

To add even further weight to this argument, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Jedinak also leads the Palace squad for total defensive contributions (blocks, clearances, interceptions, tackles won) with 79.

Dwight Gayle is living the dream at the moment after playing non-league football a few seasons ago. His shooting accuracy could do with improving now that the season is in full swing though, as so far he has also managed to muster a 28.6% on-target rate from 7 attempted shots.

Fellow forward Marouane Chamakh was criticised by Ian Holloway for apparent simulation last weekend, but his manager will no doubt still have been impressed at Chamakh’s willingness to work hard and track back. He currently has the best tackles success rate of any forward in the league to have made more than 5 attempted challenges. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, he’s won 92.3% of his 13 attempted challenges so far this season. Chamakh is 6/1 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.

Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars at fantasy.premierleague.com or with FIFA Ultimate Team for FIFA 14.

Team news

Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie is in the squad for the match at Liverpool for the first time this season after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Palace could have a crisis in the centre of defence as Danny Gabbidon has a hamstring problem, while Damien Delaney faces a late fitness test on his ankle.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva is suspended, so Jordan Henderson is likely to move across to the middle, leaving a place for either Martin Kelly, Raheem Sterling or Luis Alberto.

Liverpool (from): Mignolet, Toure, Skrtel, Sakho, Kelly, Henderson, Gerrard, Enrique, Moses, Sturridge, Suarez, Jones, Wisdom, Agger, Ilori, Alberto, Aspas, Sterling, Ibe.

Palace team (from): Speroni, Gabbidon, Moxey, Delaney, Mariappa, Campana, Guedioura, Bannan, Thomas, Jedinak, Dikgacoi, Chamakh, Jerome, Gayle, Puncheon, O'Keefe, Bolasie, Phillips, Kebe, Price.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"It's a wonderful opportunity for us to put right what's been going wrong. We have to be more attacking, it's who dares wins. That was the Blackpool approach, to be more daring. We've worked hard on that this week.

"We have players who can attack but they are coming back too far to defend, so we have to be a little bit braver and we are working on it. The proof is in the pudding, can we get at Liverpool? Can we take our chances, and will life look a little bit better afterwards?

"It's tough, it's not easy at this level but you have to believe in what you do. We'll keep plugging away. People will rubbish us but no one knows how many points we'll get.

"If we keep doing what we are doing we'll get what we've got, which is nowt. So we have to be adventurous. But can my team? Yes, we've worked on it, we've got to deal with it and then we've got to say 'how can we counter- attack and throw that punch'?

"In one of my first games as a coach when I was 17 I took over some under-15s, and we lost 17-0. But at the end of season we beat that team in the cup final. You have to believe you can handle whatever happens to you. I've made a living doing it."

Steven Gerrard

"We know next week that without a shadow of a doubt we have got to approach the game against Crystal Palace with a completely different manner than we did against Southampton. We have got to make sure we have got the intensity of a cup final."

Brendan Rodgers

"Crystal Palace did brilliantly to get promoted. Ian's an excellent manager. When he went to Blackpool, he did a great job in getting them promoted in a play-off.

"To go to Palace and get them promoted was a great, great achievement. He, like I, knows that when you come up from the Championship, it's a very difficult ask. The step is massive.

"And when you get promoted late, it cuts down your time in terms of getting players in. He will always get the best out of the players he has. So we know it will be a really difficult game.

"The atmosphere at Anfield this year has been brilliant for us. We have to make sure that our football, and the quality and intensity of our game, gets the crowd up again.

"When we do that, Anfield is a very difficult place for visiting teams to play. That's something I'm very keen to do - to make sure we have a good record at home - because if we're going to be a team challenging, that record at home has to be very, very good."

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Liverpool - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
2nd	6	4	1	1	13

Full league table

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
25/10/2005	League Cup	Crystal Palace	2 - 1	Liverpool
23/04/2005	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 0	Liverpool
13/11/2004	League	Liverpool	3 - 2	Crystal Palace
05/02/2003	FA Cup	Liverpool	0 - 2	Crystal Palace
26/01/2003	FA Cup	Crystal Palace	0 - 0	Liverpool

All time results

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Last meeting

Palace 2-1 Liverpool

Tuesday October 25 2005

Palace: Speroni, Borrowdale, Hudson, Fitz Hall, Boyce, Watson, Soares, Hughes, Reich (Togwell, 84), Freedman (Black, 77), Morrison (Andrews, 74)

Subs not used: Kiraly, Ward

Bookings: Hudson, Reich

Goals: Freedman 37, Reich 66

Liverpool: Carson, Raven, Hyypia, Whitbread, Warnock (Traore, 76), Potter, Gerrard, Hamann, Kewell (Luis Garcia, 65), Morientes (Sinama Pongolle, 62), Crouch

Subs not used: Reina, Josemi

Booking: Raven

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