Crystal Palace handed fitness boost as Liverpool gets chance to assess transfer target

Crystal Palace travels to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League this weekend, and the South London club has been handed a boost ahead of the game

Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner(Image: 2026 Sebastian Frej)

Crystal Palace has been boosted by the return of Adam Wharton to the squad for this weekend's trip to Anfield in the Premier League.

Wharton missed Palace's 0-0 draw with West Ham on Monday through injury after coming off during the first half of Palace's Europa Conference League game against Fiorentina last week. But the England midfielder's issue was clearly not serious, as he is set to be available to start against Liverpool.

"Adam [Wharton] is good," Glasner said, as he provided an update on the state of his squad ahead of Saturday's game. "He is fit and trained yesterday without any issues, so he’ll be available for Liverpool.

“All the others are the same, so we’ve got no new injury concerns, which is good news. Of course, two injuries we still have are Eddie Nketiah and Evann Guessand. So they will miss this game.”

As well as Nketiah and Guessand, Cheick Doucoure – who has not played in 15 months – remains unavailable, but former Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne should be available after illness.

"One question mark we have is Nathaniel Clyne," added Glasner. "He was ill yesterday, but then was better in the evening. He’s being assessed at the moment. But also it looks like he is available.”

Glasner also confirmed that he will not field a weakened side on Merseyside, despite having a huge European double-header on the horizon.

Glasner and his players travel to Krakow next week for a Europa Conference League semi-final first leg against Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday.

"No, no," Glasner responded when asked whether he plans to rotate his team for the trip to Liverpool.

Adam Wharton is available for Palace's trip to Liverpool(Image: Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)

"Saturday to Thursday feels like it's a very long spell in between. We're just preparing for the Liverpool game and just talking to the players."

Liverpool, meanwhile, remains without Giorgi Mamardashvili, but Arne Slot did not definitively rule out Alisson from making his return to the team against Palace. Joe Gomez is back available after missing last weekend's Merseyside derby.

“Giorgi will definitely not be available for tomorrow and also not for the upcoming weeks," Slot said. "Ali is close to a return to play, so let’s see if tomorrow comes too early, yes or no.

“And that leaves, of course, Freddie Woodman as an option, who is definitely fit.”

Slot added: “He (Gomez) is back in the squad, so that’s really positive because last week I only had two centre-backs that were playing and no-one on the bench so it’s really helpful that Joe is back."