Liverpool are finally where they belong – at the top of the table. Their 2-1 win against Crystal Palace, coupled with Arsenal’s 0-1 loss to Aston Villa means that Jurgen Klopp’s team find themselves first in the Premier League.
It was yet another typical Liverpool in. We were extremely sluggish in the first half, conceded first, and looked like we would lose the chance to go top of the table only to make a resounding comeback and win 2-1, thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott.
VAR played a key role in the game, saving Liverpool on one occasion and penalising them on the other. It must be said though that both were the right decisions. Ultimately, we won the game and for a change, came out of it unscathed.
Here are TKT’s three talking points for Liverpool, from the win against Crystal Palace.
1. Liverpool and the love story of conceding first
At this point, you can’t help but ask this question: Is it good for the team if Liverpool concede a goal soon every game? The team that plays before conceding and the team that plays after are as contrasting as they get from one another.
Liverpool were as sluggish as it gets until Palace scored the penalty. Helped a red card soon after, the Reds completely turned the tide of the game. Mo Salah, anonymous for the majority of the game turned it on in style to score the Reds’ opener. Harvey Elliott completed the comeback in stoppage time.
This is the umpteenth time the Reds have made a comeback this season. It shows the kind of resilience that Jurgen Klopp seems to have instilled in his team. Rightfully so, we are perched at the top of the table following Arsenal’s loss to Aston Villa.
2. The time when VAR stood still
VAR took a ridiculously long time to make decisions yesterday. On two separate penalty incidents, they took their own sweet time to overturn the on-field referee decisions. In fact, even the on-field referee took such a long time to look at the pitchside monitor and make a decision. It has to be said though that on both occasions, the right decision was made.
The first one was a penalty which was awarded for Virgil van Dijk‘s foul on Edouard. After many angles of viewing by VAR and the on-field referee, it was rightly overturned for an earlier foul on Endo in the buildup to the penalty incident.
The second incident was also a very curious case. Play was stopped and the referee was asked to revisit a challenge by Jarrel Quansah on Mateta in the box, during the previous run of play. Again, after a long delay, the penalty was awarded to Palace. It must be acknowledged that on both occasions, for a chance, VAR made the right decisions, although Liverpool fans would feel the Quansah foul was a little soft.
3. Liverpool desperately need a #6, or do they?
Endo is not him. He can do a job playing as the #6 for the Reds but he is definitely not the long-term solution. The Japanese midfielder struggled against Crystal Palace, unable to shift the ball on the half-turn and often emerged as a pressing trigger for Palace.
Rightfully, Endo was taken off at half-time. It showed Liverpool’s pressing need to sign a long-term #6. Or did Jurgen Klopp just show us what his solution is? The German manager transitioned Trent Alexander-Arnold into midfield and brought on Joel Gomez as the right-back.
That begs the question – is TAA the long-term solution to Liverpool’s holding midfielder woes? If the answer to this question is yes, then the Reds need to sign a new right-back. As good as Joe Gomez is proving to be this season, he is not a natural right-back. The Reds will need to go shopping in the market for a new right-back.
