Arne Slot will look to go out on a high as Liverpool host Crystal Palace before their Premier League title party, and he could name his strongest possible side.
This Sunday Anfield will play host to an evening where the 90-plus minutes of football is a mere sideshow for both sets of supporters.
With Liverpool long since confirmed as champions and Crystal Palace beating Man City to win the FA Cup last weekend, the final game of the season will be a party for all involved.
For the Reds that will mean a trophy lift to follow the game as Slot and his players celebrate their remarkable success in front of a packed stadium.
But they will still look to take a positive result into the summer, which could see the Dutchman name his strongest available XI.
Team news
Alexis Mac Allister will play no part against Palace, with the call made to rest the midfielder after a busy campaign.
Slot should otherwise have a full squad available to him for the campaign closer, with the head coach revealing in his pre-match press conference that Joe Gomez should be ready to feature:
“Last weekend he was there with the team but he was not able to play yet. He didn’t tick all the boxes yet, but I think there was a spot open or left. […]
“I’m hoping that he can make some minutes on Sunday if he ticks all the boxes this week.”
The question for Slot will be more who is left out, with a big decision to be made over whether Trent Alexander-Arnold will even make the squad.
Liverpool’s XI vs. Crystal Palace
There are two certainties heading into Liverpool’s clash with Palace: Mac Allister will not be in the squad and Alexander-Arnold will not start.
But after rotating throughout a winless run of games against Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton as champions, Slot could otherwise field a more familiar lineup.
Alisson can make his 35th start of the season behind a back four of Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson.
In Mac Allister’s absence the third midfield role alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai will likely go to Curtis Jones.
Mohamed Salah will start again as he seeks to break the Premier League‘s goal involvement record and add the European Golden Shoe to his domestic Golden Boot and Playmaker of the Season prizes.
That will likely come alongside Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, though with Diogo Jota rested at Brighton it is possible the Portuguese starts up front instead.
Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz
Slot could, of course, stick to his rotational plan and field the likes of Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez.
But the Dutchman is aware of the significance of the occasion on Sunday, and though the result would not cloud the title ceremony to follow, the mood would clearly be boosted further by an emphatic victory.
Expect the big guns to take to the pitch against Palace to receive the adulation they deserve as champions.
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