Liverpool will head to a tense Selhurst Park on Saturday, with Crystal Palace fans turning on Roy Hodgson during a run of just one win in their last eight games.
The Reds are on a run of three consecutive wins and eight unbeaten in the Premier League, since their undeserved 2-1 loss at Tottenham in September.
Next up is a trip to Crystal Palace, who themselves have not won in their last four games and just once in the last eight, losing five of those.
A 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Wednesday night brought tensions to a high, with supporters venting their fury at Hodgson, who after the game suggested they had been “spoiled” in previous years.
“The fact is the fans have been spoiled here in recent times,” he told Amazon Prime.
“They’re used to seeing us do very well at home and get good results and this year we’ve not been able to do that.”
Palace have only won one game at home all season, that being a 3-2 victory over Wolves at the start of September, with two draws and three losses since then.
Supporters booed Hodgson and the players as they conceded twice to another bottom-half side in Bournemouth, with a projectile thrown at the manager by one disgruntled fan.
It heaps pressure on Palace ahead of their clash with genuine title contenders in Liverpool, who will be smelling blood.
“If our fans expect us to go and blow Liverpool away, blow Man City away, blow Brighton away and blow Chelsea away, then they’re harbouring expectations which we will find very difficult to meet,” Hodgson continued.
“There’s no question about that. That’s the bottom line, today was a team playing in the same ballpark as ourselves, and we’re playing at home and were unable to win.
“In actual fact, we can only congratulate Bournemouth on the level and quality of their performance.
“You’re telling me now that the teams we’ve got coming up are, at least on paper, even stronger than Bournemouth.
“And if then you’re suggesting we will lose those games, it can be difficult for me to stand here and say anything which is going to make your suggestion sound ridiculous.”
Palace picked up another injury blow in their defeat, too, with right-back Tyrick Mitchell forced off with a hip issue and replaced by Nathaniel Clyne.
Mitchell joins Cheick Doucoure, Eberechi Eze, Dean Henderson, Rob Holding and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi on the absentee list.
