Liverpool are playing good since Arne Slot came to the club to change Jurgen Klopp. In fact, the Reds are playing great and the club‘s executives have so far made a fantastic choice regarding Klopp‘s successor. Liverpool is winning even when they are not playing good or even when they miss a lot of chances which was evident in today‘s away win in Crystal Palace 1-0. It was the 8th minute goal by Jota with eventually resolved the winner, but a lot has happened between that goal and the end of the game. Liverpool missed a lot of chances, and for some of them, Palace keeper Henderson was responsible, but were not punished for it with an equalizer, mainly due to the other keeper, Allison. Arne Slot went a bit too far in his rotation policy and left out the reserve keeper Caoimhin Kelleher and he wasn‘t ‘punished‘ for that either when third choice rookie Vitezslav Jaros was forced to come in for injured Allison.9 – Arne Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win as many as nine of his first 10 games in charge of the club. Machine. pic.twitter.com/uDqxzYg4XA— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 5, 2024 Liverpool made four changes from the side which beat Bologna in the Champions League in midweek. In defence, Kostas Tsimikas came in for Andy Robertson, while Curtis Jones took Dominik Szoboszlai’s slot in midfield. In attack, Cody Gakpo replaced Luis Diaz on the left while Diogo Jota started instead of Darwin Nunez on the bench. It worked, since Tsimikas made the initial pass to Gakpo who fed Jota for the winner. As for Crystal Palace, this is now a full on crisis as the Eagles not only failed to defeat Liverpool in almost a decade, but are still winless in the league, even without bringing in more players in June transfer window.It was actually Crystal Palace who scored first instantly, but former Gunner Nketiah was offside. But Jota wasn‘t when he gave the Reds the lead in the 8th minute already. It was one of the most simpliest actions, the one which any coach dreams of: Simple pass from Tsimikas to Gakpo who was on the left side and he crossed the ball as quicky as possible to the middle of the penalty area where Jota beat Chalobah to score. It was 20 minutes later when Liverpool made their next shot on target. Alexander-Arnold took a good shot but Henderson prevented the second goal. Palace had only one chance in the first half but it was a good one and Allison was forced into a big save when Sarr took a low shot. With this save, Allison allowed Liverpool to remain the only side to have not conceded a first-half goal in the Premier League this season.The second half brought much more excitement and chances. Palace‘s keeper Henderson was the first who stepped into action, saving Salah‘s shot. Then Allison saved shot by Nketiah (who wasn‘t so good anyway, to be honest) and later on a much better chance by Eze, before he went down with what seemed to be a groin injury, which forced him to leave the field. Since sub Caoimhin Kelleher wasn‘t in the squad today, Vitezslav Jaros had to make his Premier League debut. And Palace ‘smelled the blood‘ and in the last 15 minutes of the match were all over Liverpool, but the Red managed to survive and take all there points home.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 7Saturday Crystal Palace – Liverpool 0-1 (0-1)/Jota 8/17.00: (1.15) Arsenal (8.00) Southampton (16.0)17.00: (2.10) Brentford (3.50) Wolverhampton (3.80)17.00: (3.35) Leicester (3.50) Bournemouth (2.25)17.00: (1.28) Man.City (6.75) Fulham (10.5)17.00: (1.85) West Ham (3.60) Ipswich (4.30)19.30: (3.20) Everton (3.50) Newcastle (2.20)Sunday 16.00: (2.25) Aston Villa (3.50) Man.Utd. (3.10)16.00: (1.47) Chelsea (4.40) Nott.Forest (6.75)18.30: (3.05) Brighton (3.70) Tottenham (2.35)***odds are subject to change***
