Zaha vs Milner: 3 key battles as Crystal Palace face Liverpool

Wilfried Zaha vs James Milner

In Wilfried Zaha Crystal Palace have a magician, a maverick. For a man with ‘no end product’, he has mustered a remarkable amount of ‘end product’ this season and has been one of the standout performers in the entire league. Had he been turning in these kind of performances for a ‘fashionable’ club I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had both made it into the team of year and be playing for England as opposed to the Ivory Coast.

While Townsend has arguably outperformed Zaha in the last couple of games, I think it’s Zaha that could be the difference-maker on Sunday. The reason for that is his opposite number, James Milner. While Andros will be attempting to get the better of Crystal Palace academy graduate Nathaniel Clyne, Zaha will be facing up against James Milner, an excellent player but surely someone a ripe target for Zaha.

If Zaha can get the better of Milner you’d have to feel the Palace have a huge chance of getting something out of this game. Not only is Zaha a threat in himself but with Christian Benteke in fantastic form he could turn provider also.

Read More: Three things we learned from Palace’s draw with Leicester

Read More: Era defining game as Crystal Palace humble Arsenal

Christian Benteke vs Joe Gomez

Liverpool have been hit by a string of injuries in the past few weeks, most notably at centre half. Joel Matip, Lucas Leiva & Ragnar Klavan all look set to miss out on Sunday meaning it’s likely to be 19 year old Joe Gomez jointly tasked with keeping Christian Benteke at arms length.

Even before the injuries Liverpool’s defensive record was far from something to shout about; they’ve conceded the most goals in the top seven having leaked 40 already, a figure which is nearly twice that of Tottenham Hotspur. It’s this propensity to concede that has hamstrung them all season; keep a clean sheet and at worst you pick up a draw, concede and you can most certainly lose, as Liverpool have discovered this season against teams like Hull, Swansea, Leicester & Bournemouth.

It was Liverpool’s lapses last time that allowed James McArthur to score twice, pulling us back into a game we had no right to be in. Naturally, not wanting to be out-done, we took sloppy defending to new levels in order to right those wrongs and come away with the loss that our ‘defending’ deserved. Back tot he point though, Liverpool remain frail in defence and Christian Benteke has turned in two magnificent performances in the last two games.

Gomez & Lovren are there to be bullied and hounded on Sunday in the same manner as Benteke dominated Arsenal’s poor excuse for defenders and even Leicester’s centre-back pairing. He comes into this game in a good moment for him and with the extra zest of a point to prove undoubtedly in the back of his mind so watch out for Christian Benteke.

Read More: Palace’s fate in our own hands after reigniting the title race

Phillipe Coutinho vs Luke Milivojevic

When Crystal Palace played Liverpool back in October ,along with every other fan who saw the game, I was pulling my hair out at Palace’s defending. Before the game I spoke about pragmatism, about managing the game and respecting the attacking abilities of our opponents. Alas, I couldn’t have been more wrong – the best way to go about winning was to attempt to beat Liverpool at their own game apparently…

One thing is for sure, we won’t make the same mistake on Sunday. The bulk of the defensive responsibility will of course fall to the newly reshuffled defence, with Tomkins fit again to replace the ineligible Sakho. Naturally the performance of Tomkins and Kelly, the two centre backs, will be hugely important but for me the battle between attacking midfielder Coutinho and defensive midfielder Milivojevic will be more important.

Liverpool’s attacking prowess comes through the ability of their midfielders: Firminho, Coutinho, Lallana & Wijnaldum. If you want to stop Liverpool you have to stop their attacks at source, lone striker Origi isn’t going to conjure something out nothing; Coutinho, perhaps, will. That’s why the role of Milivojevic will be so key this weekend, offering the defence protection from the dancing runs and technical ability of players like Coutinho & Firminho. In my eyes, that’s where the game could quite easily be lost.