Crystal Palace have won 32 corners across their nine Premier League matches this season (3.55 per 90). They’ve seen 3+ corners in all but one of their away matches so far this term which was their trip to Villa Park where they comfortably ran out 3-0 winners.

Palace actually see their corner count rise, very marginally, when on the road to 3.60 corners per game. Liverpool are conceding 5.00 corners per game across their nine matches in the Premier League this term with this total rising to 5.75 per game when looking at their matches at Anfield this season.

Palace fell just one corner short of this line in their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Selhurst Park a few weeks ago. They are a side that can get quite a lot of success from corners, no side scored more goals from corners than Crystal Palace last season (11) so it may be worth exploring higher corner lines, or looking at Palace centre backs for shots, shots on target and goal contributions. 

Liverpool’s defensive issues are well documented, but what perhaps hasn’t been spoken about in detail yet is the performance of Giorgi Mamardashvilli who is currently filling in for an injured Alisson. This is naturally a massive blow for Liverpool, and should be considered in the context of where they currently find themselves. He’s the best goalkeeper in the league by quite a stretch and replacing him hasn’t been easy.

Mamardashvilli has been forced into making 11 saves across his three Premier League appearances this season, showing just how much Liverpool’s backline has struggled in recent weeks. This works out at 3.67 saves per 90, well above the line we require here. I anticipate Palace getting into dangerous positions where they can look to hurt Liverpool, inspired by the success that multiple sides have had against them in recent weeks of the campaign. 

Palace drew five saves from Alisson in the most recent head to head clash between the sides. This was an example of how crucial Alisson is to this Liverpool side, though Mamardashvilli has shown early signs of promise in the Liverpool net. Palace have drawn 2+ saves from the opposition keeper in six of their nine Premier League matches so far this season.

Ekitike has been the pick of Liverpool’s summer signings so far with the 23 year old registering seven goal contributions across his 13 appearances in all competitions for the Reds this term. Six of these have been goals so Ekitike has certainly hit the ground running for his new side and has subsequently caused a real issue for Arne Slot with Alexander Isak competing for the same starting role.

Ekitike should start ahead of Isak here seeing as Isak picked up a knock in the Champions League as Liverpool fired five past Frankfurt, with Ekitike getting on the scoresheet. Ekitike had four shots in Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat against Brentford last time out, even though he was unable to find the target; it's a good sign of his potential shot volume in this encounter.

Ekitike has had 16 shots across his eight Premier League appearances this season (2.86 per 90) with four of these attempts finding the target (0.71 per 90). He’s already scored against Palace this season having netted against the Eagles in the Community Shield, a game in which he had three efforts in total. It’s important that Liverpool get a positive result here with four defeats across their last five matches.

I think Liverpool fans have been reminded of the importance of Dominik Szoboszlai this season. What he lacks in end product and flair, he more than makes up for with his effort and running power. 

No player covers more ground for Liverpool than Szoboszlai with his workmanlike nature playing into our hands for our selection here.

Szoboszlai has committed nine fouls across his nine Premier League appearances this season (1.00 per 90). He averaged 1.59 fouls committed per 90 across his 36 Premier League appearances last season, so his numbers stay pretty reliable over a larger sample size. 

He has been deployed in a slightly deeper role in recent weeks as Liverpool try to find a solution for Florian Wirtz. This also aids our selection as Szoboszlai being a bit deeper will put him up against Palace’s two number 10s.

Pino (1.87 fouls won per 90) and Sarr (1.17 fouls won per 90) can cause Szoboszlai issues with the positions they pick up in pockets just in front of the back four. Konate and Van Dijk won’t want to jump out and meet these players, leaving Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones to contest duels against the duo. 

Szoboszlai committed a foul in the most recent head to head meeting between the sides which took place at Selhurst Park and saw Palace run out 2-1 winners.