August 17 2018

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

With Crystal Palace set to make their first home appearance of the season on Monday against Liverpool, Hunter Young examines the player match-ups.

After a successful London derby last week against Fulham, Palace will face a much tougher challenge this week; hosting league leaders Liverpool at Selhurst Park.

The Reds experienced a dream opening day, smashing West Ham 4-0 behind a Sadio Mane brace, with other goals coming from Mo Salah and Daniel Sturridge. Palace however, have proven tough opponents for Liverpool in recent seasons and will be looking to thwart them once again.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka v Sadio Mane

Mane is a player that has terrorised Palace in the Premier League and scored in both of the Eagles' defeats to the Reds last season. Despite appearing for Senegal at the World Cup, the winger has showed no signs of fatigue with his two goals last time out proving he is still in electrifying form. Limiting Mane will be key to Palace’s hopes as his strikes have proved the difference in past clashes.

The man tasked with slowing Mane will be emerging star Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Wan-Bissaka excelled when facing wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon last Saturday but will face a challenge of a whole new calibre on Monday at Selhurst. The young right-back has proven to be up to every challenge he has faced so far and will need to be on top of his game against Mane.

Patrick van Aanholt v Mohamed Salah

Similar to teammate Mane and opponent Luka Milivojevic, Salah had a disappointing World Cup as he and his Egypt teammates exited in the group stage. However, this disappointment has not limited Salah’s start to the season as he contributed a goal to Liverpool’s winning effort last week. Last year’s player of the season is a handful for any defender and will look to lead his team to another victory this week.

Patrick van Aanholt put in an excellent all-around performance last time out, limiting German World Cup winner Andre Schurrle to a non-factor while providing an assist for Jeffrey Schlupp’s opener. The Dutch defender will likely be limited in his forays up the field as positional discipline will be necessary against the counter attack ability of Liverpool’s front three, with Salah being the most dangerous of the star men.

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Wilfried Zaha v Alisson Becker

Alisson Becker, or simply Alisson as he is commonly referred to, was briefly the world's most expensive keeper prior to Chelsea splashing the cash on Kepa. The Brazilian's outstanding quality is well known and kept 22 clean sheets for Roma last season, with five of them coming in Champions League ties. After a shut-out against West Ham, Alisson will be looking for more of the same against Palace.

Despite summer long transfer speculation, Wilfried Zaha is still a Palace player and will be looking for another strong showing on the heels of signing a new contract this week. While Zaha’s goal last week was sublime, Fulham goalkeeper Fabri should have done better in his effort to prevent the goal. Expect no such mistakes from the world class Alisson as Zaha will have to be deadly in front of net to beat the man who keeps Ederson out of Brazil’s first team.

Can Palace get a home win against the big-spending Liverpool? Take advantage of £20 in free Ladbrokes bets.

Email Hunter with your feedback to hjyoung44@outlook.com