Liverpool have a savage fixture list after the international break, so winning at Crystal Palace was paramount. They did just that, with alarming ease.
Selhurst Park is supposed to be a tricky away day for any team in the Premier League but it has been far from it this season. Leicester City only drew courtesy of a 92nd-minute penalty, Manchester United were actually the better team in an actual football match there, and West Ham United picked up their only win of the season at Crystal Palace on matchday two.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was comfortable enough going into the fixture, ahead of an international break, that he rested Luis Diaz and Andy Robertson, with lesser important players Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai also dropping to the bench.
From the offset against Palace, they dominated. Not just in possession, with Oliver Glasner’s men letting them do what they want, when they want, but out of possession as well. Adam Wharton was presented the opportunity to be Dean Henderson’s outlet before being swarmed by the Liverpool midfield time and time again, and the young midfielder had a chastening afternoon.
Palace thought they had started the afternoon perfectly when Eddie Nketiah scored a blatantly offside goal in the opening 30 seconds. Nine minutes later, Diogo Jota made it 1-0 by being in the right place at the right time, as he so often is.
It was alarmingly comfortable for the Reds, with the home team doing nothing to get the fans going. Nketiah does look sharp in attack but without Michael Olise, Palace are bereft of ideas in the final third and rarely look like scoring. And without Joachim Andersen at the back, their ability to play out is nullified. Glasner’s new manager bounce feels like an eternity ago, with his side still looking for their first Premier League win of the season after Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat.
They were bullied by a smarter and more physical team, triggering one good press of their own in the first half, and were fortunate that Liverpool’s dominance did not result in more scoring opportunities.
Crystal Palace’s dross performance – especially in the opening 45 minutes – can be attributed to how good Liverpool were and the way Slot set them up to go and win the match. They deservedly got the three points and ought to have used their dominance to score more than one. It could have bitten them in the backside because Alisson was forced to make a few smart saves and there would have been fears in the away end when the Brazilian goalkeeper came off injured in the 79th minute. Fortunately, substitute ‘keeper Vitezslav Jaros was not tested.
Not conceding means the Reds head into the second international break of the season top of the Premier League, which is bloody fantastic considering Slot has come in as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement, if you didn’t know.
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There is no taking away from Slot’s incredible start at Anfield but there is a feeling that the serious business is just about to start. After the international break, they face Chelsea at home to kick off an extremely difficult run of fixtures, which will show us if they really are title contenders under Slot.
Between Chelsea on October 20 and the Merseyside derby on December 7, Liverpool have away games against RB Leipzig, Arsenal, Brighton, Southampton, and Newcastle, and host Brighton, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Real Madrid, and Manchester City. Brutal.
Going into Saturday’s game at Palace, we already had one eye on their post-international break fixtures, because they feel very significant.
Every team has difficult runs and Premier League title rivals Man City and Arsenal are no different, but this is something else. If the Reds come out of the Everton game top of the league or even within three points of the leaders, they will be in a very strong position and a season that was deemed transitional will become one with huge expectations heading into the second half of it.
Exceeding early-season expectations becomes very insignificant if you end up falling short of something you weren’t expected to achieve and perspective is always important, just look at Arsenal in 2022/23. We will cross that bridge if and when we come to it, we guess, but it feels noteworthy.
Winning at Palace to sit top during the second international break of the season is better than everyone expected and staying there is now the challenge for Slot and his players. If they don’t manage that, then ensuring they don’t fall away too much during their testing upcoming period is imperative.
Either way, we are going to learn a lot about Liverpool under their new manager after the international break with title talk premature ahead of such a telling run.
