Paul Merson shares ‘crazy’ Premier League title claim ahead of Liverpool’s game against Crystal Palace

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Paul Merson has revealed his early Premier League title claim as Liverpool prepare to face Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Oliver Glasner boasts a slight advantage heading into the clash after the Reds’ Community Shield loss to his Palace side.

On the other hand, Liverpool have maintained a perfect record across all competitions thus far and consistently find ways to win against the odds.

Hugo Ekitike will miss the clash after he was sent off during the Carabao Cup victory against Southampton, but his 85th-minute match-winner marked the Reds’ seventh goal scored in the final ten minutes of a match this season.

And with Premier League title rivals Arsenal relying on a late goal themselves to rescue a 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Emirates last time out, ex-Gunner Merson believes this weekend’s results will be pivotal.

Liverpool can all but win the Premier League title vs Crystal Palace

In his Premier League score predictions for Sportskeeda, Merson claimed that if the Reds beat Palace and Arsenal lose to Newcastle United on Sunday, the title race will be over after only six matches.

“Crystal Palace have not lost a game since April, that’s a run stretching back to 17 or 18 games. If Liverpool or Arsenal were on a run like this and won two trophies during the time like Palace, we would be going crazy, it’s simply phenomenal.

“Should Liverpool win at Selhurst Park, they will go eight points clear of Arsenal before the Gunners play Newcastle away from home. So if Liverpool win this game and Arsenal lose on Sunday, the title race is over, finished! I know it sounds crazy, and Arsenal have good fixtures coming up, but eight points between them will be too much.

“We were all choosing between Liverpool and Arsenal at the start of the season. And if anyone was on the fence back then and I told them Liverpool would have an eight-point head start, no one would have backed Arsenal for the title! That was when we still had 38 games left to play, and we only have 32 after this weekend.”

Indeed, Arne Slot’s men have consistently relied on late goals to win matches this season, so much so that ex-Red Jermaine Pennant laughed off a wild theory opposition supporters have concocted regarding stoppage time.

Although Liverpool hung on to secure a 2-1 win against Everton at Anfield last time out, the same problems that have befallen the side all season emerged once again.

The Reds have struggled to keep their foot on the gas when taking a commanding two-goal advantage in matches, and with Jack Grealish torturing Conor Bradley in the Merseyside derby, the hosts were somewhat fortunate on the day.

Following Liverpool’s “incredible” win against Arsenal before the international break, Slot can move eight points clear of Mikel Arteta should Merson’s scenario comes to pass, and while this is not enough to deem the title race over, it certainly would establish the Reds as the front-runners this year.

However, Merson is predicting both Liverpool and Arsenal to drop points and record 1-1 draws in their respective fixtures.

Paul Merson expects Florian Wirtz to remain on the bench

Merson predicted Slot to drop Wirtz ahead of the 1-0 win against Burnley and then again for the Merseyside derby.

The Dutchman did, in fact, do so for Everton’s trip to Anfield, and although Wirtz was rested for the Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday, his place in the starting line-up is still a question of debate.

And Merson believes Wirtz will be named on the bench once again at Selhurst Park, with Slot maintaining the midfield three who helped the Reds win the league title last season.

“I told you last week that Liverpool should go back to Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield, and they did that against Everton. I expect Slot to respect Palace and play the same midfield trio in this game. You don’t want Adam Wharton to be dictating things in midfield, so I’d be shocked if Florian Wirtz started this game through the middle.”