Good afternoon! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's pre-season friendly as Crystal Palace and Liverpool get the Far East legs of their summer tours underway in this Premier League Asia Trophy semi-final at the Hong Kong Stadium! West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City are playing in the other semi-final right now, with the match currently locked at 1-1 and the winners facing the winners of this match in Saturday's final. Before we have a closer look at these two teams, though, let's first check out the team news...

CRYSTAL PALACE STARTING XI: Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney; Townsend, Milivojevic, Puncheon, Schlupp; Zaha, Anderson, Benteke

CRYSTAL PALACE SUBS: Speroni, Van Aanholt, Sako, Loftus-Cheek, Kelly, Ladapo, Kirby

LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Mignolet; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Gomez, Moreno; Henderson, Lallana, Woodburn; Salah, Firmino, Sturridge

LIVERPOOL SUBS: Karius, Wijnaldum, Lovren, Milner, Coutinho, Grujic, Klavan, Origi, Solanke, Flanagan, Kent

What can we make of those two teams, then? Well, the first thing to note as far as Crystal Palace are concerned is that Ruben Loftus-Cheek will have to wait for his debut at the club following his arrival from Chelsea on loan - Palace's only completed signing of the summer so far. The highly-rated midfielder has to make do with a place on the bench for the first half of this one, although as is often the case with pre-season friendlies we are expecting a whole host of changes and Loftus-Cheek should get a run out in the Palace shirt for the first time at some point today.

It is a much-changed team from the one that played in their opening pre-season friendly against Maidstone, when Frank de Boer took the opportunity to look at some of his younger players. As a result, this will be his first really opportunity to run the rule over the majority of his first-team players in a match scenario since taking over at the club. Most of the big-hitters are involved today, including new club captain Jason Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha, who De Boer plans to build his team around.

The team sheet from Palace seems to suggest that they will play in a 3-4-3 formation, which became so popular in the Premier League last season due to Chelsea's success under Antonio Conte. Ward, Dann and Delaney appear to be set up to play in the back three, with Townsend and Schlupp in the wing-back roles. Milivojevic comes in in midfield having impressed during the second half of last season, while Puncheon wears the armband alongside him.

It is up front where Palace's main weapons lie, though - or at least that was the case last season. Liverpool know all too well what Christian Benteke offers, with the Belgian having scored twice on his return to Anfield in April. Alongside him will be the tricky Wilfried Zaha, who enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career last term and will be hoping to continue that form during the coming campaign. Keshi Anderson completes the front three.

As for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp hands another start to new signing Mohamed Salah after he marked his debut for the club with a goal in the 1-1 draw with Wigan, linking up with Coutinho and Firmino to net Liverpool's equaliser. Coutinho is not included in the starting XI this afternoon, but Salah will have another chance to play alongside Firmino in a front three which also includes Daniel Sturridge. The injury-prone striker has been heavily linked with a move away from the club this summer, but it is looking more and more likely that he may stay after all.

Sturridge is not the only one slowly recovering from injuries during this pre-season, and Liverpool fans will be delighted to see captain Jordan Henderson back out there after he missed a large chunk of the second half of last season with a foot problem. The England international starts in midfield alongside international teammate Adam Lallana and Ben Woodburn, who scored Liverpool's last goal in their 4-0 win over Tranmere earlier in pre-season.

Liverpool's other signing of the summer Dominic Solanke has to make do with a place on the bench from the start this afternoon, but he is expected to get a decent amount of game time following what has already been a successful summer for him as he won the Golden Ball en route to England's Under-20 World Cup success. Solanke may face a difficult fight to get into the Liverpool team on a regular basis this season due to the sheer level of competition for places in his area of the field, so these pre-season outings are a real chance for him to impress Klopp.

Liverpool's defence today is a little experimental, with Alexander-Arnold, Gomez and Moreno all being given rare run-outs. Alexander-Arnold is very highly rated within the club and will be hopeful that this season could be a breakthrough one for him, while on the other side Alberto Moreno could be running out of time at the club - particularly due to the imminent arrival of Andrew Robertson from Hull City. Joe Gomez will be hoping for better luck on the injury front during the upcoming season, meanwhile, and could provide depth for Liverpool at both centre-back and left-back.

Liverpool come into this match - and indeed this pre-season tournament - as favourites to lift the trophy, but Crystal Palace will have something to say about that, particularly given their good recent record against the Reds. It has been a summer of upheaval at Selhurst Park, with a substantial outgoing of players in addition to the shock resignation of Sam Allardyce, but under new boss Frank de Boer they will be hopeful of enjoying a better 2017-18 campaign.

De Boer has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, and often to clubs of a higher calibre than Crystal Palace, but he reputation as one of the best young managers in Europe has taken a bit of a hit in recent years. His managerial career could not have got off to a much better start, winning four Eredivisie titles in a row in his first four years with Ajax, becoming the only manager in the division's history to claim four consecutive titles. However, he missed out on the trophy in his final two years at the club before leaving in 2016.

De Boer then took over from Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan, but he will want to consign his time at the San Siro to the history books as quickly as possible. Some poor form during an uncertain time for the club saw De Boer sacked after less than three months in Milan, leaving 85 days after joining the club. This Palace job is his first since that sacking, and he will of course be expecting to spend a lot more of his three-year contract at Selhurst Park.

The Dutchman has not taken over a club in the best shape following Allardyce's resignation, with Palace having only narrowly avoided relegation last season and seen 12 players leave already this summer - including the likes of Campbell, Flamini, Ledley and Mandanda. Benteke has also been linked with a move away, but with a much trimmer squad now Palace are unlikely to allow any more key players to leave unless someone comes in with an offer that is too good to refuse.

It is a club in transition, then, but the potential is certainly there to make something of it. Loftus-Cheek is the only new face so far this summer, but the Eagles are understood to be on the verge of signing 20-year-old centre-back Jairo Riedewald having seemingly given up on the idea of capturing Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool on a permanent basis. With an exciting array of attacking players already in their midst, Palace fans should be optimistic of enjoy a better season than last year.

In the end, Palace finished 14th in the Premier League table last season, seven points clear of the relegation zone. It was a position which looked a lot more comfortable than it would have felt for much of the campaign, with the Eagles right in the relegation battle until a significant upturn in form towards the final months of the season - including notable wins against some of the league's biggest clubs. Scoring goals was not their problem last season - only Bournemouth scored more outside the top seven - but keeping them out at the other end proved to be a lot more difficult.

Palace have a fairly light pre-season schedule, with only three more games planned before the beginning of the new campaign - including the final or third-place playoff in this tournament. After that match against either Leicester or West Brom, Palace will then take on Metz and Schalke before getting their Premier League campaign underway at home to newly-promoted Huddersfield. They then face Liverpool again in exactly one month's time, and will go on to face four of last season's top six in their opening eight matches - a baptism of fire for De Boer.

Liverpool have a similarly difficult start to the season with four of the top six coming up in their first nine games - including successive matches against Arsenal and Manchester City in their third and fourth outings of the campaign. Those were actually the type of matches which Liverpool excelled in last season, and if they can enjoy similar success against their immediate rivals in addition to improving their record against the smaller teams in the league then they could be on for another successful campaign.

The Reds begin their league season away to Watford before hosting Crystal Palace in their first home game of the campaign, by which point their Champions League journey will also be underway. The draw for the playoff round of that competition is scheduled for August 4, when Liverpool will find out who they need to beat if they are to make it into the group stages. It will make for a busy beginning to the season, but Liverpool have a fairly packed pre-season schedule so they should be ready for it.

Liverpool have already had two matches during their pre-season campaign, thrashing Tranmere Rovers 4-0 in their opener before being held to a 1-1 draw by Wigan Athletic. Of course, pre-season form is rarely a hugely accurate representation of how teams will do in the actual season and the main purpose for it is to get teams back up to match fitness, but Liverpool will also want to get into a winning habit and should they lose here today - or even in the semi-final or third-place playoff against West Brom or Leicester on Saturday, then it will not be the best for morale.

At the end of this Premier League Asia Trophy Liverpool will then face Hertha Berlin before taking part in the Audi Cup, where they will play Bayern Munich in the semi-final. The format of that tournament is the same as this one, so win or lose Liverpool will play a second game in the Audi Cup against either Atletico Madrid or Napoli. The Reds will then take on Athletic Bilbao in their final pre-season friendly before the real work gets underway with the early kickoff on August 12.

Jurgen Klopp will hope to have a few more new faces in his squad by that point, and one could be completed as early as tomorrow after the club agreed a deal for Hull's Andrew Robertson which could rise to £10m. The big one Liverpool have been chasing in recent weeks is Naby Keita, although their pursuit has so far been unsuccessful and RB Leipzig have now confirmed that they have rejected a £66m bid for the midfielder. Virgil van Dijk and Aubameyang have also been linked with moves to Anfield, but as things stand it is only Mohamed Salah and Dominic Solanke who have come in so far.

The most notable departure from Anfield this summer has been Lucas Leiva, who ended his 10-year stay with the club to join Lazio earlier this week. The Brazilian was not always a first-team regular, but he was an important player to have in the squad and his exit heightens the need for a new defensive midfielder - hence the chase for Keita. Defence as a whole is an area which needs to be strengthened for Liverpool this summer, with the Reds having suffered from lapses at the back too often last season.

Only Arsenal conceded more goals than Liverpool in the top seven last season, which went a long way to undoing the good work Liverpool were doing at the other end of the field for much of the campaign. Ultimately the Reds did still manage to finish in the top four for just the second time in the last eight years - one point above Arsenal - but the goal for the upcoming campaign will be to close the 17-point gap which separated them from champions Chelsea.

PREDICTION: Right, we're 10 minutes away from kickoff at the Hong Kong Stadium, which means that it is time for a prediction! Pre-season games are always difficult ones to call, but Liverpool will go into the game as favourites having had more time to get up to something approaching full match fitness. This is De Boer's first look at a lot of his first-team players so it may take time for them to adjust to his style. We're going for a 3-1 Liverpool win.

Liverpool's record against Crystal Palace has been noticeably poor in recent years, with the Reds having won just six of their 16 meetings with the Eagles since the turn of the century. They have lost eight matches in that time, including four of the six meetings since their memorable 3-3 comeback draw to hammer the final nail into Liverpool's 2013-14 title hopes.

Palace have enjoyed particular success at Anfield, where they have won on their last three visits - including a come-from-behind victory in April. Philippe Coutinho gave Liverpool the lead with a fine free kick, but a Benteke brace either side of half time saw Palace recover to claim all three points. The reverse fixture in October did go the way of Liverpool, though, with Can, Lovren, Matip and Firmino all on the scoresheet in a 4-2 victory.

This is Liverpool's first appearance at the Premier League Asia Trophy in 10 years, having previously played in it in 2007. On that occasion Rafael Benitez's side beat South China AA to make it to the final, only to then lose to Portsmouth via a penalty shootout.

There is expected to be a slight delay to kickoff here due to the first game overrunning, with Leicester winning 7-6 on penalties after Riyad Mahrez had cancelled out West Brom's opener. That means that the winners of this match will face the Foxes in the final, while the losers will take on West Brom in the third-place playoff.

The players are ready to make their way out onto the field now, with Liverpool sporting a new and rather garish orange kit. A reminder of the teams before we get started...

CRYSTAL PALACE: Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney; Townsend, Milivojevic, Puncheon, Schlupp; Zaha, Anderson, Benteke

LIVERPOOL: Mignolet; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Gomez, Moreno; Henderson, Lallana, Woodburn; Salah, Firmino, Sturridge

KICKOFF: Here we go, then! Crystal Palace get us underway to a cacophony of noise in Hong Kong!

Palace have seen a decent amount of the ball in this one so far, with De Boer clearly wanting to get his side playing out from the back. It may be a huge change from what these Palace players were used to under Allardyce.

There is a huge roar from this Hong Kong crowd every time the ball gets close to either box. One touch from Firmino has just been cheered like a goal - they are making the most of this rare chance to catch a glimpse of the stars!

Lovely play from Schlupp to get himself out of a tight situation inside his own half. Liverpool pressed high there and tried to win possession back in a dangerous position, but Schlupp escaped it brilliantly.

Henderson spreads a long ball out wide right which again gets a big roar from the crowd, picking out Alexander-Arnold down the wing. The full-back takes the ball down on his chest but then his touch lets him down and he can only run it out for a goal kick.

Liverpool were poor at defending set pieces last season, and there is a worrying early sign that that may not have changed. Puncheon swings a free kick into the middle and it drops into a dangerous area before Sturridge hacks it away.

Clumsy challenge from Ward as he takes down Woodburn to stop a quick Liverpool counter-attack. It would be a booking all day long in a competitive match, but he gets away with only a free kick here.

CHANCE! Big chance for Liverpool to take the lead as Alexander-Arnold finds space down the right flank once again. He plays a low ball into the box for Sturridge, who turns it goalwards but sees his effort very well blocked by Dann.

Palace almost respond with a chance of their own as Benteke flicks a header on to Zaha, who almost escapes from Alexander-Arnold with some dancing feet inside the box but ultimately has to settle for a corner.

Salah has the first chance to show his blistering pace down the right flank, speeding past Delaney before getting into a crossing position. His delivery is cleared behind for a corner, but that was rapid from Salah.

CHANCE! Another shooting chance for Liverpool as Henderson floats a long pass into the box for Sturridge, who flicks it into the path of Lallana brilliantly. The midfielder is coming onto the ball inside the area, but he can't keep his half-volley down and blazes it well off target.

Palace have been forced to spend the majority of this match on the back foot, which will be a relatively new experience for De Boer in his managerial career. The Dutchman has his footballing style, but it could be difficult to implement them with a team like Palace who are used to thriving on the counter-attack.

We're 20 minutes into this match and it's still goalless in Hong Kong, although Liverpool have created the two standout chances so far. The Reds, as expected, are looking sharper than the Eagles so far.

The Liverpool supporters rise as one in the 21st minute to give applause to Lucas Leiva following his exit from the club earlier this week. Nice tribute from the fans.

SHOT! Salah collects a pass on the right flank before cutting inside onto that left foot of his and looking to pick out the top corner. It is a decent effort, but it goes just a yard or so over the crossbar.

We have a stoppage for a drinks break here due to the heat in Hong Kong, which also gives both managers a chance to have an impromptu team talk with their players.

...and we're now back underway following that brief stoppage.

CHANCE! Mignolet is called into action for the first real time today, with Anderson playing a one-two with Townsend on his way into the box. The angle is against him, though, and Mignolet rushes out to deny the youngster.

Nearly a chance for Liverpool as Woodburn threads a lovely ball through for Salah, who finds himself in a good position down the right channel. He opts against going down the outside on his weaker right foot, instead looking to pick out Sturridge and seeing his pass intercepted.

SAVE! More good play from Salah as he pokes the ball into the path of Firmino, but his shot on the turn is tame and easy for Hennessey to gather.

SHOT! Gomez brings Benteke down in a dangerous position and Milivojevic takes on the resulting free kick, but he curls his effort comfortably over the crossbar.

Good defending from Gomez as he manages to get a toe to the ball before Zaha, poking it back to Mignolet before collecting the return pass afterwards too. That looked dangerous for a moment there.

Henderson has played some lovely long passes forward today, and another one almost sees Firmino get in behind but Hennessey comes out and gets a good punch on the ball.

There have been a few promising performances on either side so far tonight. Zaha hasn't had too many chances to shine but he has looked very tricky and surprisingly sharp when he has been on the ball, while for Liverpool the likes of Henderson, Woodburn and Alexander-Arnold have impressed so far.

Woodburn feeds a clever pass into the box for Sturridge, but his touch just lets him down a little and Dann is able to sweep across and make the clearance.

Zaha almost gets himself the wrong side of Gomez for a ball over the top, with the Liverpool defender misjudging the pass. He eventually manages to get his foot to the ball, though, hooking it away for a corner.

The resulting delivery is aimed towards Benteke, but Mignolet just manages to get a touch to the ball and steer it away from the striker. It wasn't the most authoritative of touches, but he got the job done.

YELLOW CARD! It is not often you see cards in pre-season matches, but Dann goes into the book for a cynical challenge on Salah.

SHOT! Hennessey is called into action again here as Sturridge tries to pick out the bottom corner having cut inside from the left flank. The Palace keeper gets down to push it away, and fortunately for him it drops to a Palace shirt rather than Salah.

CLOSE! Liverpool come close again right on the stroke of half time, with Lallana's strike deflecting off Sturridge and going behind for a goal kick.

There will be one minute of added time at the end of this first half.

The first half comes to an end at the Hong Kong Stadium, and we're still goalless at the interval here. Liverpool have enjoyed the better of things so far, creating more chances and dominating both possession and territory, but they have been unable to turn that into goals so far. Palace - as always - remain a threat on the counter-attack, but they have spent the majority of the game on the back foot so far.

Liverpool have come close through Sturridge, Salah and Lallana, with Salah in particular looking impressive in that first half. His pace caused Palace all sorts of problems and, while the end product has been lacking a little so far, Liverpool fans will be excited from what they have seen from him today.

As for Palace, they have only tested Simon Mignolet once despite Zaha looking dangerous every time he has got on the ball. It was Zaha who started the move which led to their only real attacking moment of note, with Anderson eventually exchanging passes with Townsend before seeing his shot kept out by Mignolet. De Boer clearly wants his side to play a more passing game than the players are used to from their time under Allardyce, but they haven't had too many chances to showcase that.

LIVERPOOL SUBS: As expected, here are the first of the changes for Liverpool at half time as Milner, Lovren, Flanagan and Klavan all come on. Moreno, Matip, Gomez and Alexander-Arnold depart.

KICKOFF: Liverpool get us back underway for the second half against an unchanged Crystal Palace side.

CHANCE! An early chance for Liverpool in this second half as a long ball over the top finds Sturridge, but his first touch took him a little wide and his resulting shot lacked the power to really trouble the keeper.

LIVERPOOL SUBS: Liverpool make another four changes so far as Origi, Wijnaldum, Coutinho and Grujic come on in place of Lallana, Sturridge, Firmino and Woodburn. Coutinho gets a huge cheer from the fans.

The reasoning behind those two chunks of changes in quick succession, by the way, is that teams are not allowed to make more than four subs at once in this competition - and only 10 overall. Two more to come from Liverpool.

LIVERPOOL SUBS: Sure enough there are the final two changes as Ryan Kent and Dominic Solanke come on in place of Salah and Henderson. It is now a completely new outfield side for Liverpool.

More really bright play from Zaha as he somehow gets the ball through three Liverpool challenges before being brought down by a mix of Coutinho and Milner. He really is a slippery customer.

SHOT! Coutinho has his first sight of goal as he collects a pass from Milner before cutting inside from the left flank and trying to pick out the top corner with a trademark curling effort which flies narrowly over the bar.

Liverpool, despite all their changes, are still on top in this match. Palace are yet to make any alterations to their starting XI, with De Boer keen to give these lot a prolonged chance to impress him in their first match under him.

CRYSTAL PALACE SUBS: Here are the first two Palace changes as Van Aanholt and Wan-Bissaka replace Schlupp and Townsend.

Liverpool sweep forward quickly through Coutinho, Origi and Firmino before the ball is played over to Kent on the right flank. He knocks it into Coutinho, who goes down in the box but gets nothing for it.

Liverpool finally have the breakthrough, and it is a first goal for the club from Dominic Solanke! Origi flicks the ball to him and Solanke doesn't even look up as he drills a powerful low strike into the bottom corner. It is a clinical and crisp strike from the youngster, who is now up and running in a Liverpool shirt.

That is now both of Liverpool's summer signings who have opened their accounts for the club during pre-season, which any attacker will tell you is great to get off the mark as early as possible.

CRYSTAL PALACE SUB: Another change from Palace as Bakary Sako replaces Anderson.

SAVE! Grujic has a good scoring record in pre-season games for Liverpool and he tries to add to that here with a long-range drive that is straight at Hennessey.

SAVE! Another long-range effort from Liverpool as this time Wijnaldum tries his luck. The midfielder took his time before getting the shot away, but in the end it was pretty easy for Hennessey.

YELLOW CARD! Grujic picks up the second card of the evening for a clinical foul on Zaha, who had once again evaded a couple of challenges before being brought down. Zaha is not happy about it at all and after remonstrating with the Liverpool man he now requires treatment. A concern for Palace here.

There will be another drinks break while Zaha receives treatment. It was a cynical and naughty challenge from Grujic, but he took one for the team to stop the attack.

CRYSTAL PALACE SUB: Another change from Palace as Freddie Ladapo replaces Benteke.

CLOSE! Almost a second for Liverpool as Grujic lets fly from around 25 yards out. Hennessey is clearly concerned, but the ball zips narrowly past the far post. That would have been some strike!

CHANCE! A rare chance for Palace as Zaha yet again starts a move which ends with Van Aanholt in space down the left. He puts the ball into the box and Wan-Bassaka is coming in at the back post, but he tries an ambitious first-time volley and doesn't connect with it properly.

CRYSTAL PALACE SUBS: More changes from Palace, including a debut for Ruben Loftus Cheek. Phillips, Kelly and Kirby also come on as Milivojevic, Dann, Zaha and Puncheon make way.

Liverpool have their second, and surely that is enough for the win here. Milner fires a low ball into the box which Coutinho takes into his path really well before seeing his subsequent shot blocked. The ball falls very nicely at the feet of Origi, though, and he applies the finish from close range.

Almost a chance for Palace to pull one back quickly, and again it comes from Liverpool not dealing with a set piece. The ball almost falls for Loftus-Cheek in the area, but Milner is there to hook the ball away.

Overall this match has gone similar to what we expected, with Liverpool looking like the sharper of the two teams and dominating for the most part. Palace can have no real complaints at being 2-0 down, but it will be an important step towards match fitness for De Boer's side.

Coutinho threads a clever through-ball down the left channel for Origi, who is onside but forced too far wide to go for goal himself. Nothing comes of it in the end, but that was a lovely piece of vision from Coutinho.

SAVE! Good play from Kent as he cuts inside from the right flank before driving a low ball towards the bottom corner which Hennessey has to turn past the post.

SAVE! The resulting corner is played short and eventually falls to Grujic, whose effort is blocked before it can test the keeper. Liverpool soon come back on the attack, though, and Coutinho draws another stop from Hennessey - albeit a routine one.

There will be one minute of added time at the end of this match.

Liverpool comfortably hold out to book their place in the final of the Premier League Asia Trophy, then, where they will face Leicester City on Saturday. The Reds are deserved victors, with Solanke scoring his first goal of the club to break the deadlock in the second half before Origi made sure of things with a little over 10 minutes remaining. Palace, meanwhile, will face West Brom in the third-place playoff - also on Saturday.

Right, that is all we have time for this afternoon! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's match as Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to reach the final of the Premier League Asia Trophy. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to check back in for lots more pre-season action over the coming weeks. From me, though, it is goodbye for now!