Crystal Palace host Liverpool at Selhurst Park on 8 November 2026 in Premier League matchweek 10. Palace are 18th with seven points from nine games and face a relegation fight having conceded 21 goals already, while Liverpool sit sixth with 15 points from the same nine fixtures, inconsistent enough that three points here feel necessary to stay in touch with the top six. A draw here leaves Liverpool six points off the top four after ten games, which starts to feel like a problem. A Palace win lifts them out of the bottom three and eases some pressure off Pierre Sage.
Pierre Sage arrived at Palace on 30 June 2026, replacing Oliver Glasner, while Andoni Iraola took charge at Liverpool on 4 June after Arne Slot's departure. The two managers have never faced each other at senior level, so there is no head to head record to draw on.
Palace arrive on the back of a rough patch, their last five Premier League results reading L-L-L-W-D. They were beaten 0-2 at Tottenham on 31 October, 0-2 at Newcastle on 25 October and badly outclassed 0-5 at Brighton on 18 October before a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest, then a goalless draw against Leeds on 20 September rounded out the five game run. Liverpool's last five in the league read L-W-W-L-W: a 0-1 loss at Arsenal on 1 November, wins over Brighton (2-0) and at Brentford (2-1), a 0-3 thrashing at Manchester City on 11 October and a narrow 1-0 over Bournemouth back in September.
Palace are missing four players who would likely start under normal circumstances: Jean-Philippe Mateta is suspended for three matches after a straight red against Tottenham, Chadi Riad is out with an ACL injury, Ismaila Sarr is carrying a groin problem and Takehiro Tomiyasu is sidelined with a calf issue. Their collective absence leaves Sage without an obvious focal point in the box and forces whoever starts up front to hold play alone. Liverpool travel with their own problems, as Jeremie Frimpong (thigh), Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Giovanni Leoni (knee) and Conor Bradley (knee) are all missing, which leaves Iraola without a natural right back and short of a third centre back option if he needs to reshuffle.
Palace's 3-4-2-1 is built around Adam Wharton sitting deep as the anchor, with Tyrick Mitchell offering flexibility at full back and Daichi Kamada dropping into half spaces between Liverpool's midfield and defence to receive and turn. Without Mateta, Palace lose their main presence in the box and have to rely on Kamada and midfield runners arriving late to compensate for the lack of a target striker. Sarr's absence strips more width from the right, pushing Mitchell to cover additional ground.
Liverpool press high in a 4-2-3-1, with Florian Wirtz creating overloads centrally and Alexander Isak's movement testing Palace's three centre backs. Virgil van Dijk organises the back line and Alisson's ability to play out from the back helps Liverpool bypass Palace's mid block press. The loss of Frimpong, Ekitike, Leoni and Bradley forces Iraola to manage his available personnel carefully while trying to maintain Liverpool's high press and man orientated defensive shape.
The midfield battle between Wharton and Wirtz should shape the tempo of the game. Wharton needs to break up Liverpool's press and find Kamada quickly, whereas Wirtz will look to find pockets behind Palace's wing backs. Without Mateta to occupy the centre backs, Palace's three defenders can step tighter onto Isak without worrying about being spun in behind, which is worth bearing in mind when assessing how much space Isak actually gets. Mitchell's defensive effort on the right becomes more demanding than usual once Sarr's width is gone.
Liverpool won 3-1 at Anfield in April 2026 before Palace took a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park in September 2025, so neither side has dominated this fixture recently even if the aggregate picture over a longer run favours the visitors.
Set piece defending has been a problem for Palace all season and van Dijk arriving late at the back post from corners is something their zonal setup has struggled to deal with, so Palace need Henderson to claim crosses early and Wharton tight on the zonal marking. Kamada's passing could open things up on the counter if Liverpool push too many players forward, though Mateta's absence puts a lot of responsibility on Mitchell and Kamada to create in those moments.
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool. Palace's 3-4-2-1 may clog the central channels Liverpool want to exploit through Wirtz and with Frimpong and Ekitike both absent, Liverpool's ability to shift play quickly to the flanks is reduced. Eventually though, Wirtz finding space between Palace's lines in the second half, when tired legs drop deeper, is where the game is most likely to be decided and a Palace side playing without their main striker and two key wide players looks unlikely to hold on. Expect a goal on the break from the hosts but Palace's defensive shape should keep it tight for long enough that the scoreline flatters neither side.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
