TipResumen

CRYSTAL PALACE

Roy Hodgson will have been given a lot of credit for the way Crystal Palace were able to battle out of the bottom three and then comfortably avoid relegation. However the manager himself would likely want to give his players that credit and especially Wilfried Zaha who signed a new contract with Crystal Palace this week after scoring at Craven Cottage last weekend. Zaha helped Crystal Palace beat Fulham 0-2 away from home last weekend and that is the kind of result that will have fans believing their side can challenge for a top half of the table finish and potentially even European Football. In recent years the home form has perhaps not been as good as it could have been for Crystal Palace considering the atmosphere that is generated at Selhurst Park. Last season they finished with a 7-5-7 record at home in the League. Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their last 7 Premier League games and they have won 5 of their last 6 including the last 4 in a row. The Eagles ended last season with 3 consecutive wins at Selhurst Park in the Premier League, but this is a big test for them to open the new season at home. Jonathan Williams, Max Meyer, Connor Wickham and Jordan Ayew are all facing late tests to determine their availability for the squad.



LIVERPOOL

There is a huge sense of this being the season that Liverpool end their twenty-nine year wait to be called Champions of England and the 4-0 win over West Ham United on the opening weekend has only strengthened the belief. Games like this will give us a better insight in what to expect from Liverpool in the coming season and it will be a fixture that Jurgen Klopp will recognise as being a very difficult one. Much of this season will depend on how many draws Liverpool can turn into wins having had 12 overall last season which is the reason they finished 25 points behind Champions Manchester City. The Reds also ended the last campaign with a 9-5-5 away record which was one less win away from home than they earned in the 2016/17 season. Liverpool did end last season with a single win from their last 5 games in all competitions but those memories will have been erased after the way they were able to dismiss West Ham United. The Reds have won 1 of their last 5 away games in all competitions and they have suffered back to back losses at Roma and Chelsea. Dejan Lovren and Ragner Klavan are both doubts for this fixture, while Joel Matip needs to pass a late fitness test.



HEAD TO HEAD

Liverpool did the Premier League double over Crystal Palace having beaten them 1-0 at Anfield and come from a goal behind to win 1-2 here. Liverpool have won their last 4 games at Selhurst Park in all competitions.



PREDICTION

It can be very easy to overreact to performances and results from the opening weekend of any domestic League campaign, but Liverpool fans won't feel they are doing that after the encouraging 4-0 win over West Ham United. This is a season in which the Liverpool fans have to genuinely believe they win the Premier League title and they can make a statement by winning at Selhurst Park. While Crystal Palace have not exactly made this ground a fortress, the atmosphere should be very good on Monday night and Roy Hodgson has got the players pulling in the same direction. The former England and Liverpool manager is well organised and you have to expect his Crystal Palace team to follow the instructions set out for them. They have been very good under Hodgson's guidance and even the losses to Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester United here were very unfortunate considering Crystal Palace led in the latter two of those before succumbing to late goals. With Wilfried Zaha in the line up, Crystal Palace will try and hit Liverpool on the counter attack after frustrating them on the other end of the pitch, but keeping Liverpool out is not going to be easy. The front three have already settled into the new season and the addition of Naby Keita to the midfield was huge for them. Even with that in mind I have to respect how improved Crystal Palace have been under Hodgson and I do think they can pose some real problems for Liverpool. I certainly expect better from Crystal Palace than West Ham United produced last weekend having gift wrapped a couple of the Liverpool goals and I also think Crystal Palace have a bit more going forward than The Hammers showed. Like I said last week, it is hard to imagine Liverpool not scoring and I do think both clubs will be on the scoreboard this Monday. The last 8 between these clubs at Selhurst Park have featured both teams scoring, while 12 of the last 14 overall have also done the same. I did consider backing Crystal Palace with the start on the Asian Handicap which looks a big number, but ultimately I just leaned towards both teams scoring a little more and will back that to be the outcome of this one.