Liverpool managed a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon to maintain their place at the top of the Premier League.
The visitors took the lead early in the game when Diogo Jota latched onto a low cross and fired the ball past Dean Henderson in the Palace net.
Liverpool then dominated the majority of the game, managing 12 shots to Palace’s nine, but were unable to bag a second. They suffered a blow when Alisson went off with an injury late in the second half, but Vitezslav Jaros, making his Liverpool debut, managed to keep a clean sheet.
Here, The Athletic analyses Liverpool’s win.
Will Liverpool be worried about Alisson’s injury?
Just when everything seemed to be going to plan, Alisson dropped to the ground holding his leg.
Virgil van Dijk signalled to the bench that a change was needed immediately. Off came Alisson’s gloves as he punched the ground with frustration. Another injury to contend with — only this time there was no Caoimhin Kelleher to replace him. The Irishman had missed out through illness.
So, on came Vitezslav Jaros, the 23-year-old Czech Republic international, for his debut for the remaining 10 minutes. It was an anxious wait — not just because Alisson is so reliable and had already saved Liverpool on several occasions with important saves and interventions, but because so little was known about his replacement.
The first involvement for Jaros was a nervous punch to clear a corner. He then grew in confidence when he saved from Eberechi Eze, although the Palace playmaker should have done better with the finish.
In the final minutes, Jaros held his nerve to help Liverpool over the line, but the severity of Alisson’s injury will now be an ongoing concern.
Gregg Evans
How did a rotated Liverpool perform?
Following the 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, which came on the back of an international break in which most of his players had battled through two fixtures, Slot decided this was the ideal time to freshen up his team.
It’s no secret that the head coach likes to play with a settled starting line-up, so the tweaks he makes are often few and far between. Before this weekend, Slot had only swapped a handful of players around and had stuck largely with the same defence and midfield; making four changes for this match was a departure from the norm. Curtis Jones replaced Dominik Szoboszlai and battled away in the midfield without letting standards slip. If anything, Jones gave Liverpool more bite in the middle of the pitch.
Kostas Tsimikas filled in at left-back, playing with poise and purpose as Andy Robertson was given a rest. Cody Gakpo maintained his solid record of contributing when called upon with an assist for Jota’s opener.
Slowly but surely, Liverpool are showing that this squad might just be ready to go the distance. Slot trimmed down the numbers believing that it was more beneficial to work with a tight-knit squad and up until now each player has reacted positively.
Gregg Evans
How did Tsimikas perform?
Whether rotated in to save Andy Robertson’s legs or picked for his tactical suitability, Kostas Tsimikas proved an astute selection — and a call-back to one of the dynamics within Slot’s Feyenoord.
During his title-winning season in 2022-23, Slot used Quilindschy Hartman as his left back. Hartman quickly became one of the best passing full-backs in the Eredivisie. Because of that ability to identify attacking opportunities and keep the ball moving forward, he fit Slot’s side like a glove (and became a Dutch international during his first full season of senior football).
Tsimikas played in much the same way against Palace, switching between a more inverted role and more traditional full-back positions, often finding space to knife passes upfield. Perhaps his influence at Selhurst Park revealed systemic weaknesses in Palace. The ball that helped create the goal for Diogo Jota certainly exposed the space between Maxence Lacroix and Ismailla Sarr down the left.
While his inverting was useful and his passing helped to establish and sustain Liverpool’s attacking threat while providing numerical support to Gravenberch in the middle of the pitch, his ability to combine with Cody Gakpo — either by under or overlapping — also kept that side of the pitch unpredictable. This allowed both players to remain prominent against Palace’s fragile right side, which never really contained either player.
He was the right player for the right occasion.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Did Gravenberch shine in a reshuffled midfield?
Ryan Gravenberch’s form has him among the players of the season so far, and this was another reminder of how profound his impact is. The range of his distribution from the No 6 role and the disguise on many of those passes helped to keep Palace perpetually off-balance.
Gravenberch’s emergence at Ajax came as a more aggressive player — a carrier, really — and while he’s much more static in this position, many of those abilities are still present in his game. Saturday was a good example. Gravenberch is a very press-resistant player, meaning that whenever he touched the ball, Palace were never quite sure whether to pressure him or to sit off and take away his passing angles.
Ultimately, they did neither and he had a field day, cutting his passes through the lines and into space, allowing Liverpool to flow forward in numbers and create numerical superiorities in attacking positions. It was interesting how much chemistry Liverpool’s midfield played with given how Slot shuffled his personnel for this game. Part of that might have just been how consistent the supply from Gravenberch was.
Overall, it was an elegant performance. Gravenberch pirouettes away from opponents and steps away from their challenges as well as anyone in that role in that league at the moment, and this was another afternoon when his movement off-the-ball and use of possession was imperiously good.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
What next for Liverpool?
Sunday, October 20: Chelsea (H), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET
Recommended reading
- Palmer, Kane, Watkins, Saka, Gordon, Bellingham, Foden… who starts in England’s attack?
- Row Z: Ronaldo the team player, Celtic’s 70,716 miles of suffering and a blow-up Kane
- Antonee Robinson: My game in my words
(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
