It's been exactly 200 days since perhaps the worst night of Brendan Rodgers' managerial career, a rather unforgettable trip to Crystal Palace. This coming Sunday, he takes his Liverpool night to the scene of their infamous collapse but his side come in very different circumstances, but equally as desperate for the three points.

On a Monday night in May, Liverpool visited Selhurst Park to take on Tony Pulis' Crystal Palace in a monumental game. The trip down to South London was inevitably filled with disappointment for the visitors, after a 0-2 loss to Chelsea just days before where Jose Mourinho loosened their grip on the title, but there was still an air of belief amongst the travelling Reds that the title wasn't out of reach just yet.

And for roughly 75 minutes, they were right to believe so. The away side dominated in splendid fashion. Joe Allen's first league goal put them in-front after 18 minutes and strikes from Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez put them in complete control before the hour mark. With the clock ticking down, the away contingent truly began to think "What if? What if we could catch Manchester City on goal difference?" For a minute, it became a realistic possibility that they could. They only 120 minutes of football remaining, but with their scintillating attack, the Liverpudlian contingent knew anything was possible. Slowly chipping away at City, whose goal difference was nine higher than that of Liverpool's 50+, was now the target. But just as their fans began to believe, their hope was truly crushed in emphatic style.

Palace regrouped and scored three goals in 11 sensational minutes to even the scores. Goals courtesy of Damien Delaney and a brace from Dwight Gayle condemned the away side to their fate. For Liverpool, it was the end of a terrific campaign. The Premier League title had eluded them right at the end, whilst for Palace and their fans, it was sheer ecstasy as Selhurst's stansions shook with delight. Suarez, who had put his all into every game and had scored his 31st goal of the season, was left in tears at the end of the game and the Uruguayan's misery said it all, the dream was over. Unfortunately, things have only gone downhill since then and Brendan Rodgers is less than likely to be keen to return to the English capital.

Having last came here in search of the points to keep within touching distance of the title, Liverpool now come to Selhurst hoping they can get the points to lift them into the top half of the table. Only six months on from that 3-3 draw, the Reds are in a drastically different position. Sat in 11th, four points off of 4th place and with only four wins from 11, Rodgers' side have been unable to shake the hangover from last season's late disintegration, and they're not even half the intimidating attacking side they were on their last visit to Palace. 

It was supposed to be a season in which they built upon their success, but after their radical summer shake-up, they've looked jaded and disjointed in all departments. They've not been helped by injury troubles to last season's second top goalscorer, Daniel Sturridge. After sustaining an injury on an international break in September he has twice broken down in training just days before he was expected to turn for the side, and his latest thigh strain is likely to have a negative effect on confidence in the squad. Hope was slowly building with many expecting Rodgers to ditch the uneffective 4-2-3-1 and join Mario Balotelli and the English international together up-top, but the Ulsterman is now more likely to stick with the failing formation - much to the frustration of the Liverpool fans.  

Palace come into the game without a win in five, but given Liverpool's substandard back-line, their last five results hardly matter. Rodgers will have to ensure that his side remain more rigid at the back, particularly from set-pieces. They have recently adopted a mixed zonal marking system from corners and costless-kicks, which initially worked, but has yet to address the fundamental errors within their defence. Individual errors too, are returning to haunt Liverpool, but going forward, they're not much better. Everything that made them so good last season seems to have disappeared, and Rodgers will come in for huge flak if there's no difference against Palace on Sunday. The hosts' defence, under Neil Warnock, has been substantially less solid than Pulis', and so Raheem Sterling and co. are likely to fancy their chances on rediscovering their sumptuous attacking style of play. They have scored just a single goal in their last three games in all competitions, but coming off the back of a two-week international break, there are no excuses to hide behind this weekend. 

First are foremost, Rodgers must find the right selection. If his team are to come away with the three points, he is surely going to have to make crucial decisions at the back. Dejan Lovren has underperformed since his £20 million move and it's hard to see how he's yet to be dropped, other than the fact he was billed to be the defensive stalwart to shore things up for the Reds. The Croatian has stuttered all season, whilst Kolo Toure could be in contention after a commanding display against Real Madrid a couple of weeks ago. Rodgers' best roue might be to pair Toure with Martin Skrtel, who looks a decent defender alongside a leading figure. Only that way, can they begin to cut out the poor errors and lapses in concentration that has cost them so dear. Elsewhere, the full-back positions speak for themselves. Glen Johnson, having looked disinterested for months (or even years) has to be dropped for Javier Manquillo in the right-back spot, whilst Alberto Moreno should retain his left-back position. The Spaniard has made a number of individual errors defensively, but going forward has shown much promise and so should, on his offensive merits, be picked ahead of Jose Enrique. 

Further ahead of them, the midfield has to be assembled tactically - to help protect the back-four. Starting from scratch is the only way that they can begin to build some momentum, and Steven Gerrard could be sacrificed for increased defensive solidity. Lucas, who showed his credentials away at Madrid, come replace him and costless up the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson or Emre Can to drive forward if utilised in the defensive midfield role, but equally - Can could play as the DM. Whomever Rodgers opts to field in the midfield, he needs to ensure they need to reignite their energetic performances from last season, whilst adding more athleticism and defensive solidity. Therefore, perhaps Lucas behind a midfield two of Can and Henderson in a diamond formation could be a good way to begin to form a dominant midfield. Also, Joe Allen could step into the fold. The diminutive Welshman was at the heart of a stoic defensive display against Belgium for his country seven days ago, in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Steven Gerrard has began to lose his man too often in the last few games, with his lack of positioning and defensive nous being severely exposed. Allen, meanwhile, is much more disciplined tactically and is also more able to get about the field than the captain, who arguably needs to be rested more often. It's certainly a viable option, at the very least.

At the utmost importance, is that the Northern Irishman goes for two upfront. One striker alone, namely Balotelli, has not worked whatsoever. Be it Rickie Lambert or Fabio Borini, the Italian has to have a partner, with Raheem Sterling in the no.10 position. In fact, the £16-million summer signing could miss out due to injury this weekend but even if so, Liverpool need to have two up-front. If Rodgers feels Lambert and Borini aren't adequate enough to start up-top, he could take a gamble fielding 19-year-old Sterling, his side's brightest attacking spark, up-front. He did so against Madrid at home a month or so ago and though the game was already out of reach, the youngster certainly posed more of a threat on the shoulder. Sterling has failed to reproduce his early season form on the flank and it only makes sense to put him back in a central role that he has excelled most in the last few months, be it behind the striker/s or up-top himself. Finding their attacking form is pivotal to it all, because the Reds don't look like improving defensively any time soon. 

It's clear that, though the summer signings have yet to justify their price tags, Liverpool have enough quality to overcome most of the teams in the Premier League. That's certainly the case as they visit Crystal Palace on Sunday, but it's up to Brendan Rodgers to choose the right formation and the right players to fit into it, something he hasn't done many times this season. On the back of that, the Reds will go into the game with bad memories from their last visit to Selhurst. They must exercise their demons both to move on from last season and finally kickstart their 2014-15 campaign.

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.