Crystal Palace are under new management — long-time Arsenal great Patrick Vieira.
Thus far, Crystal Palace have lost once (Chelsea), drawn twice (West Ham and Brentford), and won once — last week’s 3-0 over Spurs. I actually watched that game today, to get a sense of how this new version of CP plays. I figure they are likely to take a similar approach against us as they did against Spurs.
They are definitely not Roy Hodgson’s team any more.
Crystal Palace controlled the game from start to finish. Spurs had a man sent off at about the 56th minute, but before that Crystal Palace had still dominated them while all 11 men were on the pitch. In the first half, CP had eight shots, and Spurs had none.
Crystal Palace were well-organized on defense, playing a mid-block press. They attacked with creativity and passed with high tempo. On Saturday, at least, Wilfried Zaha did not appear to be their best player. Zaha looked as fast, tricky, and threatening as ever. But he’s always lacked a bit when it comes to the final pass or shot. They have a young attacking mid on loan from Chelsea — Conor Gallagher — who appears to be the real deal. Very creative, and very effective.
Benteke started against Spurs, but the guy who finished is a new signing from Celtic (Scotland’s best team). Like Vieira, this guy — Odsonne Edouard — is from France. I believe he’s led the Scottish Premier League in scoring for a few seasons. He made his debut for Crystal Palace in about the 80th minute against Spurs. He scored with his third touch. Then he scored again in stoppage time. He appears to be fast, have great movement, and be a terrific finisher. I fully expect that Edouard will start against us. I also expect him to score.
Until Edouard came on, the only thing that Crystal Palace lacked against Spurs was a finisher. Despite dominating throughout, CP didn’t score until the 75th minute, and that was a penalty. But, the world turned dramatically for CP in that regard when Edouard entered the match.
I’m confident that our defense will be prepared for him, and I don’t expect him to run riot. But I do expect him to get some chances. Based on what I saw against Spurs, he is likely to take one of them.
Klopp said today that we will rotate again (duh). Here’s my guess:
Fabinho may not start, since he’s started twice this week already. I think Hendo and Thiago are both highly likely starters. I’m guessing that Salah will start and Jota will not — both of them have also already started twice this week. As for who fills in for one of them, Minamino is nothing more than a guess. I think Origi is having issues with cramps after Wednesday’s match. But, it certainly doesn’t have to be Minamino. It could be Ox, and it could be Curtis Jones, who also subbed in as a forward against AC Milan. I had forgotten that CuJo played primarily as a forward throughout his youth career. He’s rarely done it for the senior team, but he looked pretty good in his cameo Wednesday.
I’m guessing Matip gets his rest tomorrow, and I think Konaté will be given a chance. However, it could be JoGo again.
Score:
Crystal Palace 1 – LFC 3
