Crystal Palace vs Liverpool predictions: Salah and Diaz to cause havoc for Premier League leaders | OneFootball

Crystal Palace’s difficult start to the season isn’t about to get any easier when they welcome Liverpool to Selhurst Park for Saturday’s early kick off in the Premier League (12.30pm, TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+).

Oliver Glasner’s side currently sit in the relegation zone, are winless after six matches and handed Everton their first three points of the season last time out. Liverpool continue to impress under new manager Arne Slot, whose precise tweaks to the gut-busting style of Jurgen Klopp has led the Reds to the summit of the Premier League with five wins from six.

Palace showed signs of improvement throughout September after battling to draws with Leicester, Chelsea and Manchester United, but defeat to Everton has placed a real spotlight on Glasner, whose magnificent end to last season is now long forgotten.

Liverpool have reacted well to defeat to Nottingham Forest, showing a combination of resilience and outright lethality in wins over Milan, Bournemouth, West Ham, Wolves and Bologna across all competitions since.

Glasner did lead his side to a surprise 1-0 victory over the Reds at Anfield in April, but betting sites have the Merseyside club as heavy favourites after winning eight of their last nine trips to a ground that can prove intimidating when Palace are on song.

Another season, another terrific start from Mohamed Salah. Liverpool’s talisman has an incredible four goals and four assists in the Premier League already this campaign, as well as a goal and assist in the Champions League. The Egyptian also enjoys an excellent record against Palace and has scored eight in 14 matches against the Eagles.

Unsurprisingly, betting apps are backing the prolific forward to make an impact once more. Salah is likely to enjoy a lot of freedom against Palace, whose three-at-the-back system will leave room for him to operate between Jefferson Lerma at left centre back and Tyrick Mitchell ahead of him on the wing.

Lerma is being forced to operate away from his favoured midfield position due to an accumulation of injury issues for Palace. Both Chadi Riad and Chris Richards would take up a spot in the backline if they were fit, while the summer sale of Joachim Andersen continues to appear a poor decision as he wasn’t adequately replaced.

Salah is likely to cause havoc against a makeshift backline that can’t find a workable balance. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s runs down the right will likely open room for Salah to do what he does best: cut inside on his left and wallop a shot right on goal, just like we saw with his terrific strike against Bologna in midweek.

Football betting sites make him just shy of odds-on to score anytime on Saturday, but we believe he could help himself to more than one goal.

Daniel Munoz’s season is a great marker of Palace’s drop-off. He was key to Glasner’s brilliant arrival, a player whose energy and quality on the ball underpinned what looked like a blueprint to bring into this season.

The Colombian has been far less convincing this campaign and now faces the unenviable task of trying to halt his international teammate Luis Diaz down Palace’s right side. Diaz is in match-winning form, having scored five and assisted one in the Premier League so far, but that’s just a snapshot of what makes him such a difficult player to keep quiet.

Diaz’s directness is likely to push Munoz into committing to the one-on-one battle. He cannot afford to let the winger bypass him and will need to stick close to his man if Palace are going to push for a result. Diaz’s trickiness and agility makes him an incredibly hard player to keep quiet and Munoz may need to rely on cynical fouls to halt his momentum.

He already has two bookings this season across all competitions, and Premier League betting sites fancy him to pick up another card in what could be a chastening experience if his current form continues.

Responsible gambling

Liverpool’s trip to Crystal Palace kicks-off another busy weekend of sporting action, and if you are planning to have a bet at any point this weekend, it’s important to keep in mind responsible gambling practices.

Betting can be addictive and it’s important to stay in control. Gambling should never be treated as a way to make money and you should never bet more than you can afford to lose.

To help you stay in control, gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self exclusion options.

But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don’t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.