Liverpool v Crystal Palace Match Result
Liverpool are strong favourites to win this match in normal time. It’s hardly a surprise when you consider what a winning machine they were last season. The Reds were head and shoulders above every other team as far as consistency was concerned. It could be that Arne Slot’s side are even stronger this time around thanks to their double capture from Bayer Leverkusen.
Jeremie Frimpong could be a like for like replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Florian Wirtz has been a big part of Bayer Leverkusen’s recent success. Mohamed Salah has a brilliant campaign last time out and the Egyptian is sure to get some minutes at Wembley Stadium. We would expect Liverpool to be at nearly full strength.
Crystal Palace were excellent under Oliver Glasner last season and that FA Cup success was the icing on the cake. Their transfer business has been modest so far this summer, with Walter Benitez and Borna Sosa having arrived at Selhurst Park. The Eagles will hope to keep hold of Marc Guehi considering the England defender is in huge demand. There’s also the issue of keeping Eberechi Eze.
Perhaps those memories of that FA Cup win will help Palace to another famous Wembley victory. The game plan will surely involve putting lots of players behind the ball and trying to nullify Liverpool when defending deep. They can then look to counter-press to good effect although it could still be a tall order.
We’re not sure we want to be taking Liverpool at such a short price considering that this is a friendly match of sorts. There are likely to be lots of substitutes made by both teams and there might be warm conditions which means that the tempo of the game is a slow one.
Goals Under/Over
The Community Shield betting sites think it’s marginally more likely that we’ll see Over 2.5 Goals in this match. However, some will think that Under 2.5 Goals offers better value. After all, Crystal Palace will surely defend deep and look to counter on the big Wembley pitch. They will be low on possession and look to replicate that 1-0 victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
The stats also bear out that we might not see many goals scored. The previous three matches between Liverpool and Palace have featured Under 2.5 Goals. There was a 1-1 draw between the pair at Anfield back in May, although that was effectively a dead rubber for both teams, with the title already in the bag for Liverpool.
Back in October, the teams met at Selhurst Park where the late great Diogo Jota scored the only goal of the game. On that occasion, Palace actually had more shots on target than the Reds, although the trend is certainly leaning towards a low goal count.
BTTS
The bookmakers have priced up BTTS Yes and BTTS No at a similar price. The former is marginally shorter and perhaps Palace will be somewhat more expansive than the FA Cup clash. On that occasion, the club were looking to win that piece of silverware for the first time. This is a slightly different situation in the sense that it’s a season curtain-raiser where there’s not so much at stake.
Therefore, perhaps Palace won’t be defending as deep and they’ll be playing a Liverpool side who will be blending in new signings. At the moment, the Reds are in the hunt for a new striker and perhaps this will be on show in this game. We know that Arne Slot’s side are capable of plundering goals considering they scored eighty-six times in the top flight last term.
It's barely conceivable that Liverpool will fail to score. The question is whether Palace will find a way through at Wembley. They did put three goals past Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final, although the Eagles did only manage to find the net fifty-one times in their thirty-eight Premier League encounters.
First Goalscorer
Mohamed Salah scored a sum total of twenty-nine goals in the Premier League last term and it was thirty-five in all competitions for the Egyptian who will surely get a run out at Wembley here. He and his team-mates will have benefitted from no major summer tournament as opposed to Manchester City and Chelsea who ended up participating in the Club World Cup.
Florian Wirtz might be given the nod in the Community Shield and the German international is an attacking midfielder who has an eye for goal. We may also see Darwin Nunez feature despite rumours that the Uruguayan could be departing for Napoli this summer. It’s clear that Liverpool are looking to recruit an additional forward and perhaps this new signing might be available for this clash.
As for Palace, they are fighting to keep hold of Eberechi Eze and the livewire certainly enjoys playing on the big pitch. Jean-Phillippe Mateta can also make an impact operating in attack and he will certainly prove to be a handful for Virgin Van Dijk.