Liverpool’s victory over Crystal Palace extended their winning streak to six games in all competitions, but it came at a price as goalkeeper Alisson was forced off with an injury.
Diogo Jota’s first-half goal gave the early Premier League leaders the lead. The Portugal forward took advantage of some shoddy defending to turn in a cross from Cody Gakpo. However, as they got closer to winning three points, Alisson seemed to injure his hamstring while clearing a ball, and the Czech goalkeeper made his debut as Vitezslav Jaros filled in for the final ten minutes.
While Crystal Palace has not lost in seven games, Liverpool has only suffered one loss in the Premier League thus far.
Eddie Nketiah’s early goal was disallowed for offside, and right before the half, Ismaila Sarr made a nice save against Alisson.
Because Liverpool couldn’t find a second, Palace, who had been a distant second best for extended stretches of time, was always in the running to win. In the second half, Alisson was called upon to make two saves: first, he denied Eberechi Eze, then he stopped Nketiah’s shot after the visitors were caught in possession.
Even though Palace was unable to put Jaros to the test before the final whistle, Eze scored directly at the goalkeeper following a strong break, dealing a setback to Liverpool.
With the victory, Liverpool had already jumped to a four-point lead at the top of the table before the 15:00 BST games began. With three points from seven games, Palace, on the other hand, is still among the bottom three.
Liverpool is lanky, but they do the job.
With this victory, Liverpool’s post-Jurgen Klopp era is progressing admirably, and Arne Slot’s incredible managerial debut was maintained. It is only the third time in the team’s history that his Reds have won all four of their away league games this season. Additionally, Slot has become only the fourth manager in Premier League history—Felipe Scolari (first eight), John Gregory (five), and Bobby Gould (four)—to win all four of his away games in the competition.
Three days had passed since Liverpool had competed in the Champions League, and although Slot managed to shorten the turnaround time for a 12:30 BST kickoff, fatigue was evident in a listless second half performance.
They rode their luck at times, just as they did in the 2-0 victory over Bologna in midweek, as Palace threatened an equalizer following a break, but they performed well enough to maintain their winning streak.
Palace’s encouragement in the second half
Crystal Palace has had a dismal start to the season; they are currently in the relegation zone and are still in need of their first league victory.
They can take heart from their performance after the break, even though they were far from the best in the first half. The Eagles showed much more bravery in attack, especially with the arrival of Jean-Philippe Mateta. Alisson’s two excellent saves prior to his departure kept them from losing despite their strong second-half performance.
After the international break, manager Oliver Glasner will have time to consolidate his gains ahead of a challenging set of matches against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham, and Aston Villa.
Player of the game
Count: 4
V. van Dijk Mean score of 7.72
Crystal Palace is now open.
Liverpool
Number: 1 D. Henderson Average Rating: 5.74 Number: 6 M. Guéhi Average Rating: 5.67 Number: 10 E. Eze Average Rating: 5.58 Number: 27 T. Chalobah Average Rating: 5.52 Number: 5 M. Lacroix Average Rating: 5.51 Number: 19 W. Hughes Average Rating: 5.49 Number: 14 J. Mateta Average Rating: 5.46 Number: 8 J. Lerma Average Rating: 5.42 Number: 20 A. Wharton Average Rating: 5.32
9 E. Nketiah: Average Rating: 5.28; 7 I. Sarr: Average Rating: 5.22; 3 T. Mitchell: Average Rating: 5.18; 17 N. Clyne: Average Rating: 5.16; 18 D. Kamada: Average Rating: 5.06; 12 D. Muñoz: Average Rating: 4.97