Liverpool vs Crystal Palace
Venue: Anfield Stadium
Kick off: 5:30pm
Liverpool welcome Crystal Palace today knowing that only an emphatic win will do in order to preserve their fading hopes of securing Champions League football.
Regardless of the result, though, the encounter is bound to end on a sombre note as captain Steven Gerrard bids goodbye to the Anfield faithful ahead of moving to the MLS.
Win, lose or draw today, the despondent Liverpool fans will exit Anfield struck by a sense of sadness after seeing their hero on home soil for the final time.
Captain Gerrard will touch the ‘this is Anfield’ sign in the tunnel one last time before leading the Reds into battle against Crystal Palace in what represents an end-of-an-era clash on Merseyside this weekend.
With Liverpool concluding a largely disappointing season at Stoke City next week, the visit of Palace is a chance for the 34-year-old to say goodbye to the home fans following a legendary 17-year spell in the senior set-up, winning seven major honours including the Champions League in 2005.
He would have preferred his departure to coincide with Liverpool salvaging Champions League qualification in a trying season, but four points separate them and fourth-placed Manchester United ahead of the final two games.
Not only must Brendan Rodgers’s side win their remaining fixtures, United must lose at home to Arsenal and away to Hull City in order for the Reds to stand any hope of making the top four – and even then it is unlikely, with 14 goals separating the sides in goal difference.
In truth, the visit of Palace and the trip to Stoke on the final day are dead rubbers for Liverpool, who effectively surrendered their top-four ambitions after suffering back-to-back defeats at United and Arsenal on March 22 and April 4 – the defeat at the Emirates leaving them seven points adrift.
With little at stake for both sides, today is all about the Los Angeles Galaxy-bound midfielder, who joined Liverpool at the age of eight, finishing an iconic chapter of a fairytale story in front of his adoring supporters.
He admitted in his pre-match press conference that he will need to fight back tears at the final whistle. The same losing battle will be fought on the terraces.
Liverpool’s possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Lovren, Johnson; Henderson, Gerrard, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana; Balotelli
Crystal Palace’s possible starting lineup:
Speroni; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; Lee, Puncheon, Bolasie, McArthur, Zaha; Murray