While the title race and relegation battle have already been settled in the Premier League, the fight for Champions League football will take centre stage on Sunday, with Liverpool looking to secure all three points at home to Crystal Palace on the final day of the 2020-21 season.
The Reds and Chelsea have matters in their own hands, unlike Leicester City, and a victory for Jurgen Klopp's side at Anfield should be enough for them to wrap up a place in the top four.
Match preview
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For the first time in 13 weeks, Liverpool climbed back into the top four after a comfortable 3-0 victory away at Burnley on Wednesday evening.
Roberto Firmino scored his third goal in three games to break the deadlock on the stroke of half time, before Nat Phillips headed in his first goal for the club seven minutes after the break. Substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain then drilled in the third to seal three crucial points for the Reds, boosting their top-four hopes and improving their goal difference heading into the final day.
Klopp has expressed his delight at how his side have turned their fortunes around after such a poor run of form earlier this year. The German believes that the club are "back on track" to qualify for the Champions League and has labelled Sunday's showdown with Palace as their cup final.
Indeed, the scale of their turnaround has been stark when taking into account their form at the beginning of the year. Since demolishing Palace 7-0 on December 27, the Reds lost eight and drew three of their next 14 Premier League matches, crushing their hopes of retaining the title.
However, Liverpool are currently the league's inform side after extending their unbeaten run to nine games, winning seven of these in the process.
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Liverpool are sure to be full of confidence heading into Sunday's encounter with Palace, having won each of their last seven top-flight meetings against them by an aggregate score of 22-5.
However, games against teams further down the league table have already cost Liverpool plenty of points throughout this campaign; the Reds have won only six of their 14 matches against the Premier League's bottom seven teams, albeit Palace currently sit just outside of this group.
Liverpool have won their final league game in each of the last four seasons, their longest run since winning their season finale in 13 consecutive campaigns between 1907-08 and 1923-24.
Klopp's side will secure Champions League football for next season as long as they match or better Leicester City's result against Tottenham Hotspur, salvaging something positive from what has been a truly difficult 2020-21 campaign.
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After a remarkable managerial career stretching 45 years, boyhood Palace fan Roy Hodgson will oversee his final game on the touchline this weekend, after four years at the helm.
The former Liverpool boss was given a guard of honour by both sets of players for his final home game in charge of the club on Wednesday evening, with Arsenal running out 3-1 winners at Selhurst Park.
Nicolas Pepe's 35th-minute opener was cancelled out by a trademark header from Christian Benteke midway through the second half, his fourth goal in as many matches. However, the Eagles were unable to hold on for a point as Gabriel Martinelli bundled in his effort in stoppage time, before Pepe scored his second of the game in the 95th minute to ensure the Gunners left with all three points.
Hodgson insisted that a cruel late defeat against Arsenal could not dampen what proved to be his most memorable night at Crystal Palace, with 6,500 fans in attendance to bid him farewell. The 73-year-old has refused to rule out a return to football in some capacity, but this weekend's game at Anfield could be the last of his coaching career, which began back in 1976.
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Palace currently sit 13th in the Premier League and a surprise win on Sunday would see them leapfrog Wolverhampton Wanderers into 12th – if they were to lose to Manchester United – matching where the Eagles finished last season.
Their encounter at Anfield will be the 12th time the South London club have finished a top-flight campaign away from home, with the Eagles winning just one of these 11 games on the road.
Indeed, Palace have a poor away record against Liverpool, having lost six of their last nine, although they did win three successive games at Anfield between 2015 and 2017.
As little is riding on this fixture for Palace, all eyes will be on Hodgson who will take charge of his 364th Premier League game, overtaking Jose Mourinho into eighth on the all-time list.
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Team News
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Diogo Jota is unlikely to feature for Liverpool this weekend as he is still recovering from a foot injury sustained in the win at Manchester United.
Ozan Kabak is also set to miss out with a muscle problem and may have already played his last game for the club, having only joined on loan in January from Schalke.
The duo join Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Ben Davies in being sidelined for the remainder of the campaign, while Naby Keita is doubtful with a muscle problem.
Rhys Williams is set to keep his place at centre-back alongside Phillips, allowing Fabinho to remain in central midfield.
The Brazilian could be joined by Thiago Alcantara and Georginio Wijnaldum, who could potentially be playing his final game for Liverpool this weekend, as the Dutchman has yet to sign a new contract, with his current deal expiring in June.
Klopp is unlikely to make too many changes to his starting lineup, which could see Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah all keep their places in attack, with the latter chasing his third Premier League Golden Boot in four years.
As for Palace, up to 16 first-team squad members will see their contracts expire at the end of this campaign, so many of them could be making their final appearance for the club on Sunday.
The Eagles will be without at least five players for the trip to Anfield, as Eberechi Eze (Achilles), Mamadou Sakho (thigh), Nathan Ferguson (knee), James McArthur (calf) and Connor Wickham (strain) are all unavailable with injuries.
Luka Milivojevic, who missed the defeat to Arsenal in midweek for personal reasons, is doubtful as are Scott Dann and Tyrick Mitchell who are suffering with minor knocks.
Vicente Guaita returned to the starting lineup against the Gunners at the expense of Jack Butland and the Spaniard is set to keep his place in goal.
Jordan Ayew and Mainz loanee Jean-Philippe Mateta will be pushing for a place in the first XI, however Benteke is set to lead the line, with Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha to provide support from the flanks.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, R. Williams, Robertson; Thiago, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Tomkins, Cahill, Van Aanholt; McCarthy, Kouyate, Schlupp; Townsend, Benteke, Zaha
We say: Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace
Liverpool have won only two of their 10 Premier League games at Anfield in 2021, and with Champions League qualification at stake, the Reds cannot afford to slip up again on Sunday.
Their recent form against Palace has been impressive and having scored 22 times against them in their last seven meetings, they will fancy their chances of claiming all three points.
A draw or even a defeat could still see Liverpool qualify for the top four, as long as they match or better Leicester's result on the final day, but we can see Klopp's team continuing their brilliant end to the campaign with a nervy yet hard-fought victory at Anfield.
Top tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Liverpool win with a probability of 66.47%. A draw had a probability of 18.9% and a win for Crystal Palace had a probability of 14.66%.
The most likely scoreline for a Liverpool win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.39%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.82%) and 1-0 (9.33%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.81%), while for a Crystal Palace win it was 1-2 (4.16%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Liverpool in this match.
