Liverpool continue their quest for FA Cup glory with a trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday in the last 16 of the competition. The Reds will be without captain Steven Gerrard, who suffered a muscle strain during Tuesday's dramatic 3-2 win against Tottenham. His teammates will surely have him in mind though as they want him to play the final at Wembley on his 35th birthday.
Mario Balotelli scored the winning goal against Tottenham and he might get rewarded with a place in the starting eleven this weekend, especially since Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge might not be fully fit. It would be a first start for Balotelli since November 8.
Crystal Palace have surprisingly knocked out Southampton in the previous round and they will be hoping for another upset on Saturday under new manager Alan Pardew. Yaya Sanogo might not be able to play after picking up a knock during Wednesday's 1-1 league draw with Newcastle. Captain Mile Jedinak will surely miss out while Scott Dann, Lee Chung-yong and Shola Ameobi are also unavailable.
Probable line-ups:
Crystal Palace: Hennessey - Ward, Hangeland, Delaney, Kelly - Puncheon, McArthur, Ledley - Bolasie - Chamakh, Campbell
Liverpool: Mignolet - Lovren, Skrtel, Sakho - Markovic, Can, Henderson, Moreno - Coutinho, Lallana, Balotelli
My prediction: Liverpool to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Crystal Palace win - 14/5 Draw - 13/5 Liverpool win - 21/20
timidi 9 years ago
In this round of FA cup results are real, they aren't like in round before this when Chelsea, City and a few more teams from premier league lost against teams from lower division. Liverpool played well here and deserved this win, beside them Arsenal also are in the next round, Manchester United play tonight and I think...
In this round of FA cup results are real, they aren't like in round before this when Chelsea, City and a few more teams from premier league lost against teams from lower division. Liverpool played well here and deserved this win, beside them Arsenal also are in the next round, Manchester United play tonight and I think that they will win against Preston and we will have really strong next round, and I hope to see at least on big derby :)
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h34dhunt3r
9 years ago
Liverpool has been strong lately, and with additon of Markovic and Balloteli starting to play at their level, I'm expecting nothing but a win here. Crystal Palas should be happy if they loose with one goal difference.
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sharpe
9 years ago
Liverpool had a very tough game in the previous round of the competition against Bolton and I'm not so shore how bigger favourites they are for that one. Palace have some class players and good manager so why not the surprise of this round to be in this game. My prediction is for Crystal Palace to win!
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seculla
9 years ago
I think that Liverpool is very big favorite to win this game, no matter that they are not the same Liverpool from last season. And because FA cup have some very unusual rules which says that if game finishes draw there will be second match, and I'm pretty sure that neither Brendan Rodgers or players want to play another...
I think that Liverpool is very big favorite to win this game, no matter that they are not the same Liverpool from last season. And because FA cup have some very unusual rules which says that if game finishes draw there will be second match, and I'm pretty sure that neither Brendan Rodgers or players want to play another match against Crystal Palace. On the other side, their opponents Crystal Palace, are on very good position in Premier League and in last 5 matches they won three, and they have one draw and one loose. But anyway I'm sure that Liverpool win win tomorrow and will go to 1/4 final in FA Cup.
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