Liverpool’s disappointing transitional 2022/23 campaign was made up of performances like this.
An uninspired showing from Jurgen Klopp’s ageing Reds, with defeat inevitable as soon as they find themselves trailing. Far too often it was far too easy to defeat them.
Fortunately, a long-awaited midfield revamp in the summer has re-established Liverpool as title-contenders this year, having spent £150m on Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch
But for the majority of their latest trip to Crystal Palace, in another dreaded 12.30pm kick-off, it was an unwanted reminder of the Reds at their worst. Only this time, this sluggish display was ‘Liverpool 2.0’ with their new-look engine room.
With Mac Allister sidelined after requiring stitches to a knee injury against Sheffield United in midweek, it was the three remaining summer signings that made up the engine-room at Selhurst Park.
Yet it was only once all three had departed the pitch, with the Reds’ trailing 1-0, that they never looked like challenging for a share of the spoils – never mind a, for the most part, unexpected 2-1 win.
Endo was replaced at half-time with Joe Gomez brought on in his place, having too often been outmuscled by Will Hughes in the middle. The Japan international’s blushes were spared by a VAR review in the first half which spotted the Palace’s midfielder’s foul on him in the build-up to the hosts being awarded a penalty.
Their spot-kick was overturned after a blatant foul, but the 30-year-old has to be quicker, has to be stronger and has to expect such challenges. He’s not competing at the bottom of the Bundesliga anymore, next time he might not be so fortunate.
Having impressed against Fulham and Sheffield United, Endo’s disappointing first-half showing re-opens the debate regarding whether Liverpool need another holding midfielder. Regardless, the Reds will be without his services for a month in the New Year when he departs for Asian Cup duty.
Who plays number six isn’t the only midfield topic of interest surrounding Klopp’s squad at the moment as Trent Alexander-Arnold made a further case for stepping into the engine-room permanently. While he was unable to add any more goals or assists to his tally, it was another assured performance from the England international after being tasked with filling Endo’s boots after the break.
Soon trailing to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 57th minute penalty, Liverpool still struggled offensively and failed to create anything of note with Sam Johnstone left untested in the Palace goal. Consequently, it wasn’t until the introduction of Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott in place of the ineffectual Szoboszlai and Gravenberch when the Reds finally threatened as two minutes turned the game.
With the pair brought on in the 74th minute, Elliott was tripped by Ayew within seconds of coming on to earn the forward a second yellow card. From the very next attack, it was Jones’ lay-off to Salah that created Liverpool’s deflected equaliser – his 200th for the club and 150th in the Premier League. It was the Reds’ first shot on target.
Fast forward to the 91st minute and goalscorer turned provider, as Elliott galloped forward after being fed by Salah before finding the bottom corner from range.
“I improved, obviously. Finally I learned it! I had enough chances to,” Klopp joked when it was put to him on Friday how he was getting more from his substitutions and line-up changes. With Jones and Elliott making the decisive difference at Selhurst Park, snatching victory from the claws of defeat, never has such a point been proven more emphatically.
Liverpool started their trip to Palace with a midfield costing £116m after a well-documented £150m revamp. They finished it with three academy graduates, two of which are Scousers, making up the engine-room. All three boyhood Reds, combined, they cost just £4.3m and were under the club’s nose all along.
While much of the attention so far this season has understandably been on Klopp’s new signings, here was a timely reminder why it was premature to write off Liverpool’s entire midfield last year despite their woes.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. But at Selhurst Park, two Reds babes came of age to send their side, temporarily at least, top of the Premier League table.
Elliott and Jones were just fringe players when Klopp’s side won it all. In ‘Liverpool 2.0’, they evidently have much more important roles to play.
Salah steps up for double-century
Mohamed Salah is a Premier League, Champions League, and FIFA Club World Cup champion.
He has scored in finals, against Liverpool’s fiercest title-rivals, and on famous Anfield European nights. He has conquered all of Europe. He is never going to stop.
Equalising against 10-man Crystal Palace with a deflected strike will not have been how he pictured scoring his 200th goal for the Reds. Especially considering, coming in the 76th minute, it was his flailing side’s first shot on target.
But then also turning creator for Harvey Elliott to secure a, let’s face it, perhaps undeserved winner to send Liverpool top of the league was far more on brand for the Reds’ Egyptian King.
Salah now has 14 goals and seven assists from 21 appearances so far this season, while his overall returns for Liverpool stand at 200 goals and 81 assists from 327 games since first moving to Anfield from AS Roma in the summer of 2017. Remember when he was supposed to be a one-season wonder?
His strike against Palace was also his 150th in the Premier League, moving him level with former Reds striker Michael Owen in 10th in the all-time rankings. Meanwhile, he is only the fifth player to break the 200-goal barrier for Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp already teasing that the 300 landmark is now in the 31-year-old’s sights.
In truth, it has been something of a surprise that it took Salah ‘so long’ to hit his latest landmark. He had been sat on 199 goals for a ‘whopping’ two games after failing to find the back of the net against either Fulham or Sheffield United, while a solitary penalty against LASK Linz had been his only goal since netting a brace against Brentford one month ago.
It had looked set to be another disappointing day for Salah at Selhurst Park, with the forward made to wait once more on what was poised to be a frustrating day for his side. But in an instant, he turned the game in his side’s favour.
The fact that celebrations were muted, with no pre-prepared t-shirt or gesture, says all you need to know about Salah. What he continues to achieve is extraordinary, yet to him it is just ordinary. His sights are far greater.
Saudi Arabia interest might persist, but his Liverpool story is far from over.
Darwin dilemma dealt
The last time Darwin Nunez faced Crystal Palace, he made all the headlines. It was his Anfield debut when his headbutt on Joachim Andersen saw his night ended prematurely.
Fortunately such ill discipline has not been repeated in 16 months that have followed. Instead, the striker is a firm fan-favourite – raw, inconsistent, and unpredictable but constantly capable of creating chances and snatching victory for his side.
Yet Liverpool’s agent of chaos endured one of his most ineffectual showings in a Reds shirt when reacquainting himself with the Dane at Selhurst Park on Saturday lunchtime. Despite Klopp’s men winning 2-1, this was not a day where the 24-year-old can claim to have gotten the better of his earliest Premier League nemesis.
Liverpool would fail to register a shot on target during Nunez’s time on the pitch. Replaced by eventual match-winner Elliott in the 74th minute, the Reds were level two minutes later.
Often attacks would break down once involving the striker, his touch letting him down on more than one occasion. Ultimately, his most notable impact on the game was the number of times he was ruled offside. Officially flagged three times, it was the highest total on the pitch and does not include the occasions when play wasn’t stopped.
“That lad must have been born offside,” legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson once famously declared of AC Milan legend Filippo Inzaghi. The Italian has competition, with these struggles to read the line not a one-off when it comes to Nunez.
Admittedly, this raw nature to the Uruguayan’s game hardly matters as long as he is scoring and assisting goals. He made a crucial impact when winning possession and assisting Dominik Szoboszlai’s late strike against Sheffield United in midweek for example
But while he has seven goals (and six assists) for the season, taking his overall totals to 22 goals and 10 assists from 64 games, he is currently entrenched in a goalscoring drought. And at a time when his fellow forwards’ returns are also limited.
Nunez hasn’t scored for Liverpool since his spectacular winner away at AFC Bournemouth in the League Cup on November 1, with such a run now standing at eight matches. His last Premier League goal came at home to Nottingham Forest on October 29.
In the interim, he has missed big chances with the striker’s consolation being you have to be in the right positions to miss in the first place. But that was not the case against Palace.
While all players have off-days, Nunez is in desperate need of soon rediscovering his goalscoring touch.
Ali almighty
Alisson Becker’s last outing for Liverpool saw him at fault for Man City’s opener at the Etihad Stadium, before suffering a late hamstring injury. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s equaliser rescued a share of the spoils for the Reds, but having twice lost out on the Premier League title to Pep Guardiola’s men by a solitary point, the Brazilian is well away just decisive such small margins can prove to be.
The 31-year-old has missed three games since last month’s trip to Manchester, with Liverpool defeating LASK Linz, Fulham, and Sheffield United in his absence. Caoimhin Kelleher would keep two clean sheets, but his showing in last weekend’s victory over the Cottagers left a lot to be desired.
Yet it was equally a reminder of just how fortunate the Reds are to possess the best goalkeeper in the world ahead of him in the pecking order. Alisson returned away at Crystal Palace, and wasted no time in demonstrating exactly why he is deserving of such a status.
He kept the scores level with an astonishing save in the first half, pushing an unmarked Jefferson Lerma’s close-range effort onto the post before Alexander-Arnold could boot it clear. It had looked a certain goal.
And while he was unable to keep out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty, his stoppage-time save to deny Andersen, pushing the Dane’s header wide of the post right at the very death, was match-winning. Elliott’s goal might have fired Liverpool ahead, but it was this save that preserved it and sent the Reds top.
Only time will tell how decisive these three points will prove to be come May. But with Alisson back in goal, winning his side points behind the Premier League’s meanest defence, it’s all about these small margins when you’re challenging for the title.