Liverpool lost on their last visit to Selhurst Park, and they go back on a two-game losing run to face a Palace side without Mateta
Andoni Iraola’s side play their last game before the international break at Crystal Palace, who are 19th and without their suspended striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Nov 8, 2026
The last time Liverpool went to Selhurst Park, in September 2025, Eddie Nketiah scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time and Crystal Palace won 2-1. Liverpool go back on Sunday having lost two games in a row, and Nketiah is likely to lead Palace’s line again. Kick-off is 2pm in London, which is 7:30pm IST.
This is Liverpool’s last game before the international break, and Andoni Iraola knows how the last week has looked. A side that had been winning has lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal and 3-2 at Fenerbahçe, and Everton’s win over Coventry on Friday pushed them down to sixth.
Two defeats in three days
The Arsenal game was the bigger worry. Liverpool did not get a shot on target at Anfield, and Kai Havertz’s early goal was enough. In Istanbul they led twice through Trey Nyoni and Alexander Isak, and Fenerbahçe were level within four minutes both times before Vedat Muriqi headed the winner.
Iraola’s answer on Friday was that Liverpool are not as bad as they look this week, and were not as good as they seemed a week earlier. The goals are the issue. Liverpool have 11 in nine league games, and they sit on 15 points, a point behind Everton.
“The only doubt we will have is Ryan,” Iraola said of Ryan Gravenberch, who has a heel injury. “The Ryan Gravenberch thing is a day-to-day thing, it’s a matter of pain.” Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are all still out.
Palace without Mateta
Palace’s season has been worse. They are 19th on seven points, have lost their last three league games, and have conceded 21 goals in nine, more than anyone else in the division. Pierre Sage, who succeeded Oliver Glasner, is under heavy pressure.
He is also without his first-choice centre-forward. Jean-Philippe Mateta is serving a three-match ban for his red card at Tottenham, and Palace’s appeal failed. Ismaila Sarr, who scored the first goal in that 2025 win over Liverpool, is out with a groin injury.
Sage has Nketiah and Jørgen Strand Larsen to choose from. Larsen has been injured, and Sage thinks he can play a part on Sunday. “We have to deal with it. We have big confidence in the other players,” he said of Mateta’s absence.
There was one bright moment on Thursday. Palace were a goal down to Hoffenheim in the Europa League and down to ten men after Adam Wharton’s second yellow card, and Daichi Kamada still equalised in stoppage time. Iraola said he had watched it, and that a ground as small as Selhurst Park puts pressure on you quickly from a throw-in or a long ball.
What a win would mean
Three points would take Liverpool back above Everton before the break and ease the noise around Iraola for a fortnight. For Palace it is simpler. Sage needs a result, and he has to find one without Mateta.
On paper this is Liverpool’s game to win. Palace, though, kept going with ten men on Thursday, and Liverpool threw away two leads in Istanbul on Wednesday. It may not be as comfortable as the table suggests.