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Liverpool can't escape Crystal Palace at the moment. After meeting in the Community Shield, the two sides have also been drawn together in the Carabao Cup, and the upcoming league encounter falls in the middle.
Arne Slot won't need to be warned about the size of the challenge. Not only did Oliver Glasner triumph in the previous meeting at Wembley, his Palace side are now 17 matches unbeaten in all competitions.
It's a case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, with Liverpool defending a 100 per cent record in 2025/26. Slot will be without his chief source of goals in the absence of Hugo Ekitike, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better stand-in than Alexander Isak.
The club record signing found the net for the first time against Southampton in midweek. And Slot has hinted that Isak will get 60 to 70 minutes against Crystal Palace, with the hope being that he can make the difference compared to last month's meeting between the two sides.
But Liverpool's middling form against Palace extends back way beyond Wembley. The London side has been a formidable opponent for some time now.
In fact, in Liverpool's last five meetings with Crystal Palace, it has only emerged with two wins. It has also suffered two defeats (one on penalties in the Community Shield) and a draw.
Last time out will still be fresh in the memory. Liverpool looked as though it was heading for victory, but Palace stuck at its task, before Ismaila Sarr delivered an equalizer.
Fortunately, penalties won't come into play at the weekend. But misses from Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, and Harvey Elliott consigned Liverpool to a shootout defeat.
The previous meeting ended 1-1 at Anfield. Slot can cite a fairly significant asterisk, given that Liverpool had already wrapped up the league, but the Reds were certainly looking to end the campaign on a high before going to receive the trophy; Glasner's side had other ideas.
Prior to that, Liverpool battled to a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park. Tragically, Slot no longer has his difference-maker from that match; he has acknowledged the heartbreaking instinct to look for Diogo Jota in tight games this season.
Going back a little further, Jurgen Klopp did not have too much more luck against Crystal Palace. He lost his final game against the Eagles, a 1-0 defeat at Anfield as dreams of the league title rapidly melted away.
Before that, it was a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park. But that required a stoppage time winner from Elliott.
In short, recent history tells us to expect a very close game. The last time this fixture was settled by more than a single goal was three and a half years ago, a 3-1 win for Liverpool in January 2022.
Throwing in Glasner's current unbeaten streak against all opponents, it's clear that this will be one of Liverpool's toughest tests of the season. A win would further confirm the idea that Slot's side is the real deal.
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