After dropping points in their season opener, Liverpool returned home to Anfield to host Crystal Palace.
Jürgen Klopp made four changes to the side that drew to Fulham. With Joël Matip and Ibrahima Konaté out injured and Joe Gomez carrying a knock, Nathaniel Phillips was given a start next to Virgil van Dijk at centre-back; in midfield Harvey Elliott and James Milner replaced Jordan Henderson and injured Thiago Alcântara, while in attack Roberto Firmino made way for Darwin Nuñez to make his home debut. Liverpool set up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
Patrick Vieira made just one change from the team that lost to Arsenal, replacing Odsonne Edouard with Joel Ward. This saw Palace switch from a 4-2-3-1 shape to a 3-4-3.
Removing a striker to add an extra defender to their backline, it wasn’t exactly surprising Palace came out to defend, but Liverpool struggled to break them down.
One of their major problems was that they struggled to move the ball through midfield. Fabinho was generally left free in midfield by Palace, yet he was also left without passing options by Liverpool. Milner and Elliott would push up to join the attacking line, presumably to occupy the defenders in order to create space for their teammates, yet it left Fabinho alone in midfield. Cheick Doucouré and Jeffrey Schlupp could block the passes into Milner and Elliott, so Fabinho was left having to either pass the ball backwards or wide.
Seeing as Palace had just two men in midfield, a third Liverpool player in this space, as would usually happen with Firmino dropping off into midfield, would have allowed Liverpool to progress this way, however Nuñez isn’t that kind of striker. Joachim Andersen stuck very tight to him, immediately getting on top of him whenever he tried to receive the ball to feet, but Nuñez also didn’t time these movements very well, allowing Palace to win back the ball.
Trent Alexander-Arnold tried to come inside into this area between the lines, however it rarely worked, as Eberechi Eze would simply follow him inside. When he was able to free himself of Eze, Alexander-Arnold was able to create some of Liverpool’s best chances though.
For the most part, Liverpool were left having to go wide, where Palace’s wingers would shift across to meet the full-backs and the back five offered Palace good defensive width. Pushing five men into attack, there was always the chance one of these crosses might fall into place for Liverpool, but they weren’t exactly clear-cut opportunities.
Better ones came from when Liverpool played long balls in behind Palace. Despite not pressing Liverpool’s backline, Palace would play a relatively high line, leaving space behind them for Liverpool to attack. Mohamed Salah in particular was having a lot of joy out on the right flank, catching out Tyrick Mitchell on a couple of occasions.
It was instead Palace that took the lead though. Liverpool pushing forward Milner and Elliott into attack backfired when they lost the ball and Vicente Guaita found Eze with the pair far ahead of the play, leaving Fabinho alone at the base of the midfield. Eze dribbled past Fabinho and slipped a ball through to Wilfried Zaha, who timed his run well to beat Liverpool’s offside trap and finish past Alisson Becker.
Things then went from bad to worse for Liverpool early in the second half when they went down to ten men. Getting little joy against Andersen, Nuñez was getting increasingly frustrated and Andersen intelligently played on it, turning the screw until Nuñez snapped and headbutted him, earning a red card.
Liverpool equalised soon after however. Luis Diaz picked up the ball out on the flank, dribbled past multiple players and fired in a shot from the edge of the area. It was very much an individual goal rather than any strategic victory for Liverpool.
Klopp made an attacking triple substitution after getting back on level terms. Off came Andrew Robertson, Phillips and Milner, replaced by Kostas Tsimikas, Gomez and Henderson. This saw Liverpool take up a 4-2-3 shape, with Salah moved into the centre and Elliott wide right. Even carrying knocks, Gomez could provide better passing from the back than Phillips, while Henderson could likely cover more ground than 36 year-old Milner, partnering Fabinho in the centre.
Given Liverpool were struggling to break down Palace even with eleven men, it wasn’t exactly surprising they failed to do so with ten, with the Eagles holding out to take a point back to London.
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