Liverpool handed Palace boost as Glasner confirms key absentees

Our head coach Arne Slot has decisions to make at the top end of the pitch.

Hugo Ekitike is suspended after his dismissal in the midweek Carabao Cup tie against Southampton, something Slot addressed again, leaving Alexander Isak in line to lead the line.

The Sweden international scored his first goal for us in that tie and, according to liverpoolfc.com, is expected to get further minutes against Palace.

Slot explained: “He’s able to make minutes again. I still feel 90 – [it] depends also on the pace and the intensity of the game – might be a bit too much… but he’s further into his pre-season now and normally after two or three weeks in pre-season players go to 60, 70 minutes.”

Elsewhere, Giovanni Leoni was confirmed to be out for a yeart after suffering an ACL injury against the Saints, a devastating setback for the 18-year-old defender who had only recently arrived from Parma.

Palace missing key men but Sarr returns

For Palace, the return of Ismaila Sarr provides a timely lift after three games out. Glasner confirmed Yeremy Pino is also available, despite being forced off last week with a knee problem.

“He [Sarr] had the full training week, the same as Adam [Wharton] and Eddie [Nketiah last week],” said the Austrian. “We always nominate the squad when we think everybody is ready to start.”

But with Doucoure, Kporha and Riad ruled out, the home side are short on depth in midfield and defence.

That could hand Liverpool an advantage as we look to continue our strong start to the 2025/26 season and build further momentum after lifting the Premier League trophy last term.

You can watch Slot’s full pre-Palace press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: