Key events
Half-time: Liverpool 0-1 Crystal Palace
The truth is this could have been so much worse for Liverpool, who have continued their Atalanta form. Without Andy Robertson’s desperate hack from the line, Palace – assured and with a clear plan – might have been further ahead.
45+2 min: Henderson patiently lets the ball drop into his area before picking it up and taking more time. Liverpool look ready for half-time, Anfield is quiet, with an undertow of grumbling from the fans as the whistle sounds.
45 min: Mateta dives headlong to divert the ball past Alisson’s right-hand post. Was Van Dijk clinging on? The striker seems to think so. Two more minutes added on here.
44 min: Liverpool remain in their frightful hurry. And tense, too. Endo loses the ball to yet more groans and Glasner urges on his team. Eze sends away Olise, who has his shot blocked. That came from a mistake from Konate.
42 min: Olise pings in a shot that Alisson has to dive down low to save. Next, Liverpool seem to be certain to score but Diaz makes a mess of his pass to Salah and was offside in any case. So much happening. Frantic is the word.
41 min: Eze attempts some magic in a dangerous area. Can Liverpool take advantage? No, Jones overhits it, to loud groans. They are struggling for rhythm.
39 min: Andersen has to step away to clear from Bradley, who has previously had to do far more defending than has been customary in his fledgling career.
38 min: Jones and Robertson are the two Liverpool players taking it to Palace. There are groans when Nunez loses possession. And boos while Henderson takes his time over a free-kick.
36 min: Palace skating through again. Endo gets caught and then Eze slips in Olise who loses his footing just as Alisson slides in. That’s a decent chance that’s been passed up.
34 min: Oliver Glasner can be heard urging on his team, his shiny white sneakers echoing the colours of the touchline. The game is chaotic, but it’s Liverpool who are frantic with worry and concern. Feels like if Glasner can get Palace clear this season they will a lot of fun next season. His Eintracht team were a good watch.
33 min: Mac Allister is fouled on the very edge of the Palace box. Free-kick, and a few contenders to take it. Mac himself takes it, but can’t beat the wall.
31 min: Palace cut through Liverpool down the left, and this time Van Dijk triggers the offside flag.
Title race twists and turns, you say? By crikey!
30 min: Rick Harris gets in touch: “Liverpool look shot and it is beginning to look like emulating United’s 3rd place and Carabao Cup win from last season may be their level when the dust settles. Klopp has chosen the right time to leave but maybe he should have waited until the end of the season to tell everyone.”
29 min: Close again! A save from Henderson, Robertson’s cross, Diaz’s shot. A fine save. All Liverpool now….Konate wallops wide from the resultant corner.
28 min: Liverpool hit the bar! Robertson takes the kick himself and then a madcap scramble ends with Endo swinging and hitting the bar. Palace smuggle the ball away somehow. Van Dijk, in the opposite box, again seemed unable to get his legs right.
27 min: Robertson, ever determined, forces a corner.
26 min: Nunez wins the physical battle with Andersen, and then turns to send away Salah. It’s overhit this time but that’s decent centre-forward play, like peak Andy Carroll. It’s looking like Liverpool’s best hopes lie in getting the ball launched over the Palace press.
24 min: Diaz makes a scamper into the box and clashes with Munoz. No penalty, and nor should it be. Only half-hearted claims.
22 min: Lerma returns the favour with a crunching, well-timed tackle on Nunez, and from the resultant pairs of corner, Clyne, against his old club, closes down Andy Robertson, perhaps the only player in a red shirt playing well.
21 min: Liverpool may be comeback kings but they need to improve. And fast. Jones tries to step it up, and Lerma, who has played well as central defender, get on the end of a Nunez baulk.
19 min: Liverpool are, frankly, all over the show, Palace now dominant in the fashion Liverpool were at Old Trafford this time last week.
18 min: So close for Palace! Mateta is through, a calamity for Liverpool, he beats Alisson and dinks towards goal, and Robertson clears! Wow, that was so so so close. Again, it was Van Dijk who had switched off.
16 min: Eze sets off one of his trademark runs, beating a couple before Konate clatters into him, a shoulder barge. Play is waved on, but that looked painful.
15 min: Too easy for Eze? Liverpool defending like a sieve again, and if Conor Bradley was targeted, Virgil van Dijk was just as culpable. The radar has faded somewhat this season.
Goal! Liverpool 0-1 Crystal Palace (Eze, 14)
The Palace plan pays off, as they push up down the left, and Mitchell, from the byline and Eze breezes into space and taps in.
13 min: Is Alisson ring rusty? A clanked kick straight out of play suggests he might well be. Is Kelleher better on the ball? He might be, you know.
12 min: Liverpool stepping it right up, and it takes some key defending from Joachim Andersen to clear the danger. Wharton is then fouled by a flailing Curtis Jones.
10 min: Palace take their time over a throw. Perhaps that’s when they rest. They’ve been very busy of late. Their back three is closing down Liverpool’s trident. Mac Allister, as Nunez misreads his pass, scuffs wide. Communication breakdown, but no nervous breakdown yet.
8 min: Shot no 1 from Nunez as Andy Robertson opens up space, then releases the new Crazy Horse. Henderson, in Palace’s goal, saves with ease to spare.
7 min: Palace counter, then Mateta, Wharton and Hughes force the ball from Bradley.
6 min: So, not easy so far for Liverpool but they soon enough gain a dominance of possession.
5 min: Palace will not be allowing Liverpool to pass the ball around the back in Hansen to Gillespie to Hansen to Lawrenson to Nicol to Gillespie fashion. The plan is to push up, and win the ball where Olise and Eze can weave magic.
3 min: Liverpool’s first attack sees Mo Salah and Conor Bradley link down the right, before Alexis Mac Allister makes a mess of his pass in rather uncharacteristic fashion.
2 min: Palace are pushing up, pressing high. A risky strategy? So is sitting back and soaking it all up.
Away we go at Anfield
1 min: Both teams take the knee and off we go, with Anfield rocking. Palace go from the b of the bang and Alisson comes out to palm clear a Tyrick Mitchell cross before then making a save from Eze. Liverpool beginning slackly.
A rousing version of You’ll Never Walk Alone, too, with Sky cameras giving the rendition a full showing before a minute’s silence for the 35th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster. That’s tomorrow, April 15th. Anfield descends to a complete hush before applause rings out as referee Chris Kavanagh’s whistle goes.
The players make their way to the field, and the banners have been restored to the Spion Kop.
Jurgen Klopp spoke to Sky Sports, starting with that Atalanta team: “It was not an off day, we just didn’t get it. We’re not going to overreact, we lost a football game and now we have an opportunity to show a reaction in a different competition.
“Let’s just be lively, be us, play the football game and see what we get for it. It’s wonderful to have Alisson back, it’s really good news. The whole squad situation is getting better.
“The alarm bell was loud enough in the last game, everyone heard it. And of course now I want to see a reaction. We have to defend as a unit, in these moments better.”
Oliver Glasner spoke to Sky Sports: “We have been competitive, but against the top teams in the league you have to be focussed and concentrated, aware for 95 minutes. You can’t allow them to have a chance, because they will punish you. That happened against Man City but you can see from that game that we create chances too. In transition we create chances, in open play as well, but of course we have to be a little bit pragmatic.”
There was insurrection in the air at Anfield on Sunday. Liverpool fans are not alone in their protest against owners for whom it seems there can never be enough money.
It’s been a great – and imperfect title race, all the better for that imperfection.
Last time out: not great for either team.
As it stands. Liverpool can go back top for a couple of hours at least. Palace are skirting danger.
Liverpool also welcome back Trent Alexander-Arnold to the team. Alisson Becker returns after 10 weeks out. Mohamed Salah, Conor Bradley, Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz are back in, though three of those played half the Atalanta game. Diogo Jota’s back, too, and on the bench.
Michael Olise played the closing minutes of Palace’s loss to Manchester City last week, and there’s a surprise start for Nathaniel Clyne in place of Joel Ward.
The teams – Alisson back for Liverpool, Olise for Palace
Liverpool: Alisson, Bradley, van Dijk, Konate, Robertson, Jones, Endo, Mac Allister, Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Subs: Gomez, Szoboszlai, Gakpo, Elliott, Jota, Gravenberch, Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah.
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Munoz, Andersen, Lerma, Clyne, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell, Olise, Mateta, Eze. Subs: Ward, Tomkins, Ayew, Schlupp, Edouard, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Ozoh.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
Preamble
The heat is on for Liverpool. Crystal Palace, too, even if Liverpool’s need for a win is the obvious headline requirement here. After Old Trafford, after Atalanta, there are wobbles aplenty on Merseyside. On Thursday in the Europa League, Jurgen Klopp shuffled his team, only to make three changes at half-time. It made no difference. In fact, matters got worse. Within Liverpool’s play, there are shards of high quality but weaknesses aplenty, too. Palace meanwhile have won just one match since Oliver Glasner came in. And again, while there are positive signs, there are also serious causes for concern. Not least that Brentford ended their own winless run, placing pressure on Palace not to slip further and get dragged down amid the Lutons.
Kick-off is 2pm UK time. Join me.
