Mark Lawrenson agrees with Sky Sports pundit over Liverpool vs Crystal Palace prediction

Liverpool are being backed to pass their Crystal Palace test on Monday night.

The Reds got off to a disappointing start last week, drawing with newly promoted Fulham away from home, having to come from behind twice.

Jurgen Klopp’s men were not helped by injury issues, and some of those will extend into their first home clash of the season, on Monday night.

But Liverpool will still be expected to come out on top against a Crystal Palace side who were defeated by Arsenal in their opener.

That’s what Sky Sports pundit PaulMerson believes, at least, telling SportsKeeda: “Liverpool need to turn up this weekend.

“They’ve had a bad start, and they need to pick up the pace. I know Crystal Palace weren’t great last week, but Liverpool’s style of play could allow them to be effective on the counter.

“The longer this game drags on, the more worried Liverpool will become.

“They need to score early here. Points at the start win you the Premier League, and this is a massive game for Liverpool.

“ Darwin Nunez should’ve played from the start last week - he proved his mettle when he came on. Liverpool aren’t playing against a dominant team in Crystal Palace - midfield isn’t the biggest part of their game, but they can hurt you on the counter.

“I think Liverpool will win this game, but it’ll be a hard-fought match.”

Merson predicted a 2-0 home win for Liverpool, and Reds legend Mark Lawrenson agreed in his Paddy Power predictions.

“I think Palace were a little bit unlucky against Arsenal (2-0 defeat). They had chances at 1-0 down which they should have taken,” said Lawrenson.

“They’re just a good watch, Palace. Patrick Vieira’s done a really good job there. Liverpool were sluggish against Fulham but they’ve had another week of hard training so I’ll go 2-0 to Liverpool.”