Full Time: Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace

Liverpool got their first league win of the season after a hard fought 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield. The Eagles have had our number at home in recent seasons and after a poor first half, it seemed that we will have to settle for a point.

Sadio Mane, however, had different plans as he scored in the second half and then the domination started. There were a number of quality saves from the Palace goalkeeper and in truth, the away side were lucky to go back home conceding just one.

We now have to prepare for the home tie against Hoffenheim and with Klopp making five changes to the side that played against the Germans, we should be in a good position, in terms of freshness.

There was one player that really stood out on his debut for us and here’s how the Reds fared on the day.

Liverpool Player Ratings

Simon Mignolet – 8/10

Mignolet was rock-solid at the back with no issues at all. The Belgian came out and commanded his box by collecting crosses and even pulled off a couple of quality saves to keep a clean sheet.

Joe Gomez – 7.5/10

Gomez was brought in to provide rest to our rising star Trent Alexander-Arnold and the former Charlton man was just as good. He displayed a lot of pace to keep Jason Puncheon in check and even put in a few quality crosses for the forwards to attack.

Joel Matip – 8/10

Facing Christian Benteke is never going to be easy but Matip ensured that the Belgian did not do much in the attack. Our centre-back even made a couple of marauding runs to support the attack in an excellent display.

Ragnar Klavan – 8/10

Brought in the place of Dejan Lovren, Klavan was another defender that had an excellent game and didn’t really put a foot wrong as he also ensured that Palace did not attack our goal all that often.

Andrew Robertson – 9/10

The man of the match as he started his first game for us and he was excellent. The Scot was constantly putting in crosses, quality ones too, and also had a shot well saved by the Palace keeper. Hopefully things only get better for the left-back.

Jordan Henderson – 6/10

Our captain was one of the players that was poor in the game and although he kept the ball moving about, there were times when we were bereft of attacking ideas and that is where you would have expected Hendo to step up. Unfortunately, that did not happen a lot.

James Milner – 6.5/10

Another midfielder that had an average game to be honest. Milner was possibly better than the rest as he tried his best to help the attack but we have to really work on the creativity and control of our midfield if we are to achieve anything this season.

Georginio Wijnaldum – 5/10

We don’t know why Wijnaldum is preferred in the side. He was missing for most of the game and barely helped us out in midfield. It was a good thing the Dutchman was replaced by Dominic Solanke in the second half.

Sadio Mane – 7.5/10

Mane was once again our saviour as he came up with the crucial goal after a bit of fortune. The Senegalese scored his second of the season but didn’t seem up to the speed of the game in the first half. Post the goal, Mane threatened a lot more, along with the likes of Roberto Firmino and the substitute Mohamed Salah.

Roberto Firmino – 7/10

It was another workmanlike performance from the Brazilian. He wasn’t at the tip of the attack a lot of times and had to pick up the ball from the midfield in the first half. Was taken off for Dejan Lovren late in the game.

Daniel Sturridge – 6/10

Sturridge started the game but couldn’t really create a clear chance for himself. The Englishman was not the worst player on the pitch but he has had better days for us.

Substitutes

Mohamed Salah – 7/10

The Egyptian came off the bench and added a lot of quality to our front line. Salah almost scored with a beautiful curling effort but he does seem to be a little off pace at the start of the season.

Dominic Solanke – 6/10

The youngster had one or two moments of brilliance and also got a smart save off Wayne Hennessey but could not get on the score sheet.

Dejan Lovren – NA

Lovren was brought on late to add some solidity to our defence and he actually didn’t make a mistake too.