Liverpool played hosts to Crystal Palace earlier this afternoon looking to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table. The Reds began the match on the front foot, but they couldn’t capitalise on their dominance early on. It was the visitors who scored the opening goal of the game courtesy of Andros Townsend’s powerful finish from close range. The Merseyside outfit tried their best to respond quickly but lacked the cutting edge in the final third, so they had to go into half-time trailing by one goal.
The Reds found a way back early in the second half through Mohamed Salah’s finish from close range. Palace responded with a James Tomkins header, but Liverpool kept the pressure on and scored two more goals through Salah and Sadio Mane to make the points secure for the home side. Palace grabbed a consolation goal late in injury time, but the Merseyside giants ran out 4-3 winners on the day.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the encounter against the Eagles.
GK: Alisson Becker – 5.5/10
The Brazilian goalie distributed the ball with accuracy but conceded three goals on the day which will disappoint him.
RB: James Milner – 5/10
The English midfielder was played out of position at right-back and Palace took advantage of his situation by exploiting his lack of pace down the wide areas. However, Milner put in some dangerous balls into the Eagles box and also took two yellow cards for his team and was sent off just before the end of the match.
CB: Joel Matip – 6/10
The Cameroonian got two great chances to score in the first half but couldn’t take his chances. He looked a bit shaky defensively but did enough to come away with the win.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 7/10
The Dutch defender was calm and composed at the heart of the Liverpool defence and made a few crucial interceptions late in the game to make the points secure for the home team.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 8/10
The Scottish full-back was full of energy and was a massive threat to the Palace defenders down the left flank. He got a deserved assist right at the end when Mane broke away to score from a tight angle.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 8/10
The English international hardly gave away the ball and had a good game in midfield for Liverpool. Klopp would hope that his captain can maintain the same level of performance in the coming weeks.
CM: Fabinho – 7/10
The Brazilian talent played some beautiful, defence-splitting passes during the match and was also not afraid to do the dirty defensive work in midfield.
CM: Naby Keita – 5/10
Another average game from the former RB Leipzig prospect. He showed signs of promise but lacked sharpness in the attacking third of the pitch.
RM: Mohamed Salah – 9/10
The Egyptian was once again Liverpool’s hero as he scored two decisive goals in the second half which helped his team pull off the comeback.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 7/10
The Brazilian forward linked up play well and often dropped deep to receive the ball. He gave Liverpool the lead in the 53rd minute through his deflected shot.
LM: Sadio Mane – 7/10
He was often selfish inside the Palace penalty box but took his chance well in the end which put the points in the bag for Liverpool.
Substitutes:
CAM: Xherdan Sharqiri – 6/10
The Swiss international failed to get himself into the game after coming off the bench.
CM: Adam Lallana – 6/10
He provided some fresh legs in midfield.
RB: Rafael Camacho – N/A
Not enough time to make an impact.
