Crystal Palace vs Liverpool Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2025 FA Community Shield
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The 2025-26 season kicks off in earnest for these two Premier League sides as league champions Liverpool take on FA Cup holders Crystal Palace at Wembley.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – ESPN+
How to watch online: UK – discovery+ / US – ESPN+
Crystal Palace preview: Competition debut
Crystal Palace find themselves in the Community Shield for the first time in their history after their FA Cup triumph last season, which constituted their maiden major trophy.
The Eagles have been fairly quiet in the transfer market to date, but they have at least managed to keep hold of their star names, so far at least.
They are also appealing the decision to demote them from the Europa League to the Conference League, although a final decision on that isn’t expected until next week.
Liverpool preview: New faces
Premier League champions Liverpool kick-off their new campaign as Arne Slot’s men look to begin the 2025-26 season with more silverware.
The Reds have splashed the cash over the summer with the likes of Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike joining the ranks, although the tragic death of Diogo Jota a little over a month ago will still be fresh in the minds of everyone involved with the club.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz are the biggest names to have departed the club, while Darwin Nunez is on the verge of a move to Al Hilal.
Crystal Palace team news: Nketiah blow
Eddie Nketiah will be out for six weeks after picking up a hamstring injury in a pre-season friendly against Augsburg last Friday, and he joins Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure in the treatment room.
Matheus Franca is also likely to be unavailable in the early weeks of the season.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Kamada, Wharton, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta
Unavailable: Riad (Injured), Doucoure (Injured), Nketiah (Injured)
Questionable: Franca (Injured)
Liverpool team news: Defensive doubts
Captain Virgil van Dijk was suffering with illness earlier in the week but should be available, while Alisson has returned from a recent trip to Brazil for personal reasons and is available for selection.
Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley face a race against time to be fit but are unlikely to be risked.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike
Unavailable:
Questionable: Van Dijk (Illness), Gomez (Injured), Bradley (Injured)
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool prediction
After winning the Premier League title last season, Liverpool have brought some exciting talents into the club in a bid to stay on top and there is likely to be plenty of new faces on show at Wembley on Sunday.
Underdogs Crystal Palace will hope that their opponents will experience some teething problems as they look to bed their new players in, and they will certainly not fear the Reds having done a job against Man City in last season’s FA Cup final.
With the likes of Ismaila Sarr, Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta in their ranks, Palace can certainly cause Liverpool problems here and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them find the net, but Liverpool’s class should tell.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool tip: Liverpool to win & both teams to score
