Crystal Palace and Liverpool meet in FA Cup in battle of two in-form teams
Sunday 15 February 2015 21:43, UK
Crystal Palace host Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round at Selhurst Park on Saturday evening, looking to build on their recent good form under new manager Alan Pardew.
Palace, whose last appearance in the quarter-finals came exactly 20 years ago, have won five of the seven games since their former player returned to the club at the turn of the year.
The visitors, though, are also in good form heading into this fixture having lost just one of their previous 15 matches in all competitions.
But Brendan Rodgers’ side will need to overturn a miserable recent record at Palace – Liverpool have not won on their last six visits in all competitions to south-east London – if they want to progress to the last eight.
Team news
The home team will once again be without captain Mile Jedinak, with the Australia midfielder still troubled by the ankle problem he picked up while away at the recent Asia Cup.
Pardew could also be missing on-loan striker Yaya Sanogo (hamstring) and midfielder James McArthur (thigh) after they both suffered injuries in the club's draw with Newcastle on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard will be absent from the trip to Palace after being ruled out for between two and three weeks with a hamstring problem.
And with Lucas Leiva already out for at least a month with a thigh problem, it means Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen are likely to be paired in central midfield.
Forward Raheem Sterling, who missed the midweek league win over Tottenham with a foot injury, will be assessed prior to kick-off, although youngster Jordon Ibe is cup-tied after featuring in the competition with Derby County.
Betting
Liverpool will be hoping to put their recent woes at Selhurst Park behind them and Sky Bet expect them to do so, going 21/20 on an away win.
Palace are 5/2 to win, 12/5 to force a replay and 11/1 to score exactly three against Rodgers’s men for the third meeting running.
Both teams have scored the last four times they’ve come up against each other and that’s expected to occur once more at 8/11.
