Liverpool team vs Crystal Palace predicted as Florian Wirtz and Rio Ngumoha decisions made

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One hundred and forty seven days after it last played at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final defeat to Newcastle United, Liverpool returns to the capital for the Community Shield against Crystal Palace.

Alisson Becker could return in goal, though Conor Bradley is expected to miss out through injury. That will mean Jeremie Frimpong starting at right-back, with Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez likely to make up the rest of the back four.

Joe Gomez is also injured for Liverpool, but wouldn't have been likely to start anyway. Van Dijk was ill and missed the double-header with Athletic Club on Monday, but has since returned to training.

In midfield, Alexis Mac Allister is slightly behind his teammates when it comes to his fitness this summer. The Argentine is not far away from being fully ready again, but he did miss the start of the summer while he recovered from injury.

For that reason, it could be Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai in the center of the field. Curtis Jones is another option and he has looked sharp so far this summer.

In front of a double-pivot, Mohamed Salah will be on the right and Florian Wirtz will operate as the number 10. Cody Gakpo is likely to play on the left, though Liverpool fans will hope to see more of Rio Ngumoha, probably off the bench.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot

Liverpool boss Arne Slot

Hugo Ekitike is now the only senior number nine at Anfield after Darwin Nunez's move to Saudi Arabia was confirmed on Saturday. The French striker is likely to lead the line here as a result.

"Normally, you have to play numerous games before you can win something," Arne Slot said ahead of the game. "If it's the League Cup, FA Cup, let alone [the] Premier League or Champions League, normally you win something in the end of the season.

"Now we have a chance to win something in the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, we face a very good Crystal Palace that have been very difficult to win against for us, because we played 1-1 against them in the last game of the season.

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"They showed in the last final — and even in the semi-final, by the way, as well how difficult it is to win a one-off game [against] them. I think most of the players that they have are still there, so even more reason to know what a difficult team it is to play against."

Tributes will be made before kick-off to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, who passed away in a car crash earlier this summer.

"First of all, the tragedy impacted us, of course, most. But again, it impacted far more his wife, children and parents. But it impacted us as well, definitely," Slot said.

"The tributes that have been done since were all very emotional and impressive, every time we were somewhere. It started off in Preston and in Asia as well. It's been emotional, but impressive as well."

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