The Sunday’s second match-up of the Round 34 in the English Premier League will take place at the Anfield between 3rd ranked Liverpool FC and the 15th ranked Crystal Palace FC. The London side, although ranked in the bottom part of the table, have significantly improved their form winning 10 points in their last 5 games, while the Reds where even more successful, winning 11 points over their last 5 outings. Interesting enough is also the fact that the Reds have won in their last two trips to London, while Crystal Palace has won their last two trips to Anfield. Second day of the Round 34 is also the time for payback if we didn’t live up to the expectations from Saturday’s picks or the time for double punch if we were successful on Saturday so let’s take a closer look to some easy betting picks in the analysis that we have prepared for you.
LIVERPOOL FC vs. CRYSTAL PALACE FC
3-Way: 1: Liverpool FC -189 Home; X: +384 Draw; Crystal Palace FC +620 Away
Spread -1: Liverpool FC -120; Crystal Palace FC +120
Total +2.5: Over -149; Under +144
LIVERPOOL FC
The Liverpool FC is currently in a good position when it comes to their season goals as they rank third in the league table with 66 points in 33 games. To be fair, fans were hoping to see the team fighting for the title with the new head coach Jurgen Klopp at the helm but at this point that is not exactly possible as leaders Chelsea FC has nine more points and one less game played.
The Reds fans will have to wait for the 19th title and Manchester United will still have two more titles than Liverpool after this season ends. The team has been pretty much consistent throughout the season with couple of unexpected flops against the teams form the second part of the league table. They are 5-2-1 in the last eight games and 3-1-0 in the last four home games. Overall record at home is 11-4-1 but most recent matchup at Anfield finished in a disappointing draw against Bournemouth.
Goal difference at home is 41-16 (69-40 overall) and they rank fourth in the home league table with 37 of 48 possible points earned. Liverpool scores 2.56 and concedes 1.00 goals per match at home (2.09-1.21 overall) and 88% of their home matches had over 1.5 goals in total. 69% of their home games had over 2.5 goals and 56% of their home matches had over 3.5 goals in total. Approximately one third of the matches at Anfield (31%) had over 4.5 goals in total and 38% of those matches had over 2.5 goals at half-time. Liverpool has scored at least one goal in 94% of their home matches including last 13 home games. Most common results at home are 2:2 draw, 4:1 win, 3-1 win, 2-1 win and 2-0 win (all occurred twice) and most common result at half-time is 2-1 and 2-0 lead (both occurred three times).
Sadio Mane leads the team in scoring this season with 13 goals while Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho have 11 and nine in their accounts. Adam Lallana tops the team in assists with seven while Firmino and Coutinho have six each. Passing segment belongs to Jordan Henderson and James Milner who have 2057 and 1849 total passes. Goalies Simon Mignolet (23 appearances) and Loris Karius (10 appearances) have 64 saves and eight clean sheet games combined.
Danny Ings (Knee) is expected to be out until at least June 1, while Adam Bogdan (ACL knee) has unspecified date of return. Ovie Ejaria (ankle), Jordan Henderson (bruised foot) and Sadio Mane (cartilage knee) are all major doubts for Sunday. Adam Lallana (thigh) is a slight doubt while Lucas Leiva (muscle) and Joel Matip (muscle) will have late fitness test. Ragnar Klavan (knee) is expected to be available in early May to coach Klopp.
CRYSTAL PALACE FC
The Crystal Palace FC is pretty much out of the danger zone after some great performances lately but it’s still not the time to relax. They rank 15th in the league table with 35 points in 32 matches and they are seven points above the relegation line. As stated above, they are in the great form lately (5-1-2 in last eight games) and they had some excellent results during that span with a win over the leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge four weeks ago and a win over Arsenal at Selhurst Park in front of their own crowd 3-0.
They are 2-0-2 in the last four games on the road with 5-3-8 overall record. Goal difference on the road is 24-30 (44-52 overall) and they rank eighth in the away league table with 18 of 48 possible points earned. They score 1.50 and concede 1.88 goals per match on the road (1.38-1.64 overall) and 88% of their road matches had over 1.5 goals in total. 56% of their road games had over 2.5 goals and 38% of their away matches had over 3.5 goals in total. One fourth of the games on the road (25%) had over 4.5 goals but only 9% of their games had over 2.5 goals at half-time. Crystal Palace has scored in each of their last seven matches and most common results on the road are 2:1 win and 2:0 win (both occurred twice so far).
Christian Benteke tops the team in scoring with 12 goals while Wilfried Zaha and James McArthur have six and five in their accounts. Zaha is the team’s leading assister with nine while Andros Townsend has four assists. Jason Puncheon and Joel Ward top the team in passing segment with 1241 and 1139 total passes. Goalkeepers Wayne Hennessey (23 appearances) and Steve Mandanda (nine appearances) have 96 saves and six games with clean sheets combined.
Pape Souare (broken leg) has unsoecified date of return while Connor Wickham (ACL knee) is out for the season. Scott Dann (knee) is expected to be out until at least May 6, while James Tomkins (calf strain) and Loic Remy (calf strain) should be available on Sunday to coach Sam Allerdyce.
The Liverpool Reds need the points to keep the upper hand in the Champions League spots battle but Crystal Palace have proved that they know how to play with the big clubs and they don’t care that they are the visitors. First match-up of the season had six goals in total with Liverpool emerging victorious 4:2 but the most recent match-up at Anfield went the Crystal Palace way on November 8th, 2015, 2:1. My safe bet here would be over 2.5 goals in total. For those who like to test out their bravery, I would suggest to go with the AH on the Liverpool side.
MY PICK: Over 2.5 goals (-149)
Additional Pick: Liverpool AH -1 (-120)
