It was a far cry from the stunning attacking performance that Liverpool opened the season against West Ham with. Still, Liverpool overcame the tough defending of Crystal Palace and found two goals, one in the dying embers of each half, to put away the Londoners for their second win of the season to start the campaign off on the right foot.
What Happened:
It was a chess game of a first half really. Palace in their narrow 4-4-2 forced Liverpool to try and find freedom down the wings, but the play of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Andros Townsend on the Palace right halted the forward movement of Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson a substantial amount in the first half. Liverpool's breakthrough came in the 22nd minute when Naby Keita spun Townsend around deep in his own territory and found Mo Salah with a fantastic pass. Salah's chip was off target despite a brilliant first touch (it bounced back up off his thigh) but it was promising. Things got a bit scary though for Liverpool when Keita made a misstep passing the ball directly to Christian Benteke as intended target Virgil van Dijk was not prepared. Townsend ended up with the ball at his feet and had a cracking effort, but it hit the woodwork above an outstretched Alisson hand while Wilfred Zaha's follow-up effort was blocked by Trent Alexander-Arnold. The game's two best chances up to that point happened just minutes away from each other.
From that point, though, the Reds saw the better of the chances. Keita had a decent effort saved by Wayne Hennessey, who covered his near post well. Robertson's volley on a head-on from Roberto Firmino went way high, Mane's hit 40 minutes in was closer, but still nothing. That changed in the 44th minute. Palace continually marked the three attackers of Liverpool tight when they drifted in the central area, allowing them very little room to operate. It was to their downfall as Mamadou Sakho, the ex-Liverpool center-back, kicked out multiple times at Salah and sent him down for a penalty. There was controversy over if it should have been called, but I think there's no question it was a penalty. Sakho kept his leg out and stuck it in before that multiple times, drawing contact with Salah while never coming close to the ball. James Milner stepped up and sent Hennessey the wrong way and just before the half, Liverpool got their goal.
The first fifteen minutes or so of the second half were dominated by Palace, who had some good attacking positions, but no clear chances, at least in open play. In the 54th minute, Luka Milivojevic stepped up for a free kick after Zaha was taken down by Alexander-Arnold. In dangerous position, Milivojevic bent it around the wall, but Alisson covered himself in glory with a great near post save. Zaha had another chance, forcing Alisson to hold a shot after a quick attempt on goal, but the turning point was Wan-Bissaka's red card in the 75th minute. With Salah away free and set to have a one-on-one with the keeper, Wan-Bissaka showed impressive speed to catch up but clipped him from behind drawing red. The free kick on the very edge of the box didn't result in anything, but Liverpool saw plenty of freedom in possession and bravely weathered the stormy moments of attack that Palace sent forward. They topped it off with a 12-second counter attack from van Dijk's headed clearance on a corner, to Salah, through to Mane, who held off Patrick van Aanholt and rounded Hennessey to make it 2-0 and seal the deal.
How Did This Happen:
It's a real testament to the abilities of the defense, specifically Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, just how well this match went for Liverpool. Van Dijk was able to silence Christian Benteke almost entirely, outside of one header on a corner coming close where Gini Wijnaldum had to mark him, while going ten-for-eleven on accurate longballs with a whopping nine duels won and eight clearances. The entire side, mainly Joe Gomez here, silenced Wilfred Zaha for the vast majority of the match leaving him a bit frustrated. Alisson, though, was a commanding presence in net with a couple nice saves to help keep the clean sheet. What is huge about Alisson to me, though, is his passing. His range opens up so much for Liverpool. Take he and Wayne Hennessey. Hennessey had a perfectly standard game, nothing poor at all, some fine saves, but he only made 26 passes with a passing accuracy of 42.3% and only seven-of-twenty-two longballs being accurate. Now take Alisson, who had 23 passes for an incredible 91.3% passing accuracy, with nine-of-eleven longballs finding their target. His passes down the wing for Andy Robertson opened up so much space for the left-back to run and find a bit of freedom. These first two games have been great for the new Liverpool keeper.
I could not recap this match without praising the opponent. Crystal Palace were exceptional in their game plan and did a very good job stifling the creativity of Liverpool's players. The narrow 4-4-2 forced them to look out wide for movement as is clear by the fact that both full-backs got over 100 touches on the ball. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was very strong in positioning and made three key tackles, including a couple being inside the box, to stop Liverpool attacks in their tracks. Sadio Mane was able to influence the game in different ways and he was able to get past the young Englishman on a couple of occasions, but the red card was a lone black mark on what was an outstanding performance for Palace's budding right-back star. As he covered the left of the attack, it was up to Trent Alexander-Arnold to find answers on the right. He was not on target with his crosses as just two of thirteen were accurate. Many were long, some were short, he was a bit all over the place with them and it forced James Milner to try and drop a bit deeper on the right to help Trent get forward a bit more. It's a credit to Hodgson's side and how disciplined they are that they were able to keep their rigid shape and also look forward a bit to attack as well.
Liverpool did indeed try to get forward and went through a few ways to do so. Roberto Firmino frequently dropped deep in the midfield to receive the ball at his feet and try to make a play. Naby Keita also had a few good runs forward. But Palace, especially throughout the first half, kept all ten men behind the ball and forced Liverpool to pick their way through them and would not allow themselves to get beat. In the category of 'defending while in possession', Liverpool did well to keep a strong link between Gini Wijnaldum, or, at times, James Milner, and the two center-backs, to avoid any possible counter attacks through the middle. You can see in the heatmaps of the match that this worked out pretty well for Liverpool. Zaha drifted typically out left, Wan-Bissaka went down the right, Benteke dropped more left at times, but not much went through the middle. This is not a condemnation of their attack, but more pointing to the fact that the two central players on the evening, Luka Milijvojevic and James McArthur, generally play more holding roles, and while both Andros Townsend and Jeffrey Schlupp do cut inside, both drop back and more frequently defend narrowly as well more than attacking in a central manner.
Final Thoughts and What's Next:
I think this match is a great highlight at showing Liverpool what they will, at times, need to do to compete for the league title this season. Selhurst Park is never easy to win at, but Liverpool have done well to take multiple three-point victories away from there. For Crystal Palace, they can hold their heads up high knowing that they know what needs to be done on their end to make a run into the top-half of the table. They were a fun team to watch and really seem just a couple players (i.e., a creative midfielder, and better number nine for Zaha to play off of) in the system from really becoming a dangerous side all around. It was a gritty win for Liverpool, but praise on the night will go to the two center-backs and goalkeeper, but it was a strong total team effort to get another victory.
Up next for Liverpool, after just five days rest, is a return to Anfield and the chance to square off with a side that toppled their rivals, Brighton and Hove Albion. The Gulls were 16th last season and lost their opener to Watford, but they shocked the footballing world with a 3-2 home victory against Manchester United this past weekend. Chris Hughton's men will hope to continue onward in their quest to topple another giant on Saturday at 12:30 PM EST.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for more LFC coverage, including live Tweets during the matches, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Michigan basketball coverage!
What Happened:
It was a chess game of a first half really. Palace in their narrow 4-4-2 forced Liverpool to try and find freedom down the wings, but the play of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Andros Townsend on the Palace right halted the forward movement of Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson a substantial amount in the first half. Liverpool's breakthrough came in the 22nd minute when Naby Keita spun Townsend around deep in his own territory and found Mo Salah with a fantastic pass. Salah's chip was off target despite a brilliant first touch (it bounced back up off his thigh) but it was promising. Things got a bit scary though for Liverpool when Keita made a misstep passing the ball directly to Christian Benteke as intended target Virgil van Dijk was not prepared. Townsend ended up with the ball at his feet and had a cracking effort, but it hit the woodwork above an outstretched Alisson hand while Wilfred Zaha's follow-up effort was blocked by Trent Alexander-Arnold. The game's two best chances up to that point happened just minutes away from each other.
From that point, though, the Reds saw the better of the chances. Keita had a decent effort saved by Wayne Hennessey, who covered his near post well. Robertson's volley on a head-on from Roberto Firmino went way high, Mane's hit 40 minutes in was closer, but still nothing. That changed in the 44th minute. Palace continually marked the three attackers of Liverpool tight when they drifted in the central area, allowing them very little room to operate. It was to their downfall as Mamadou Sakho, the ex-Liverpool center-back, kicked out multiple times at Salah and sent him down for a penalty. There was controversy over if it should have been called, but I think there's no question it was a penalty. Sakho kept his leg out and stuck it in before that multiple times, drawing contact with Salah while never coming close to the ball. James Milner stepped up and sent Hennessey the wrong way and just before the half, Liverpool got their goal.
The first fifteen minutes or so of the second half were dominated by Palace, who had some good attacking positions, but no clear chances, at least in open play. In the 54th minute, Luka Milivojevic stepped up for a free kick after Zaha was taken down by Alexander-Arnold. In dangerous position, Milivojevic bent it around the wall, but Alisson covered himself in glory with a great near post save. Zaha had another chance, forcing Alisson to hold a shot after a quick attempt on goal, but the turning point was Wan-Bissaka's red card in the 75th minute. With Salah away free and set to have a one-on-one with the keeper, Wan-Bissaka showed impressive speed to catch up but clipped him from behind drawing red. The free kick on the very edge of the box didn't result in anything, but Liverpool saw plenty of freedom in possession and bravely weathered the stormy moments of attack that Palace sent forward. They topped it off with a 12-second counter attack from van Dijk's headed clearance on a corner, to Salah, through to Mane, who held off Patrick van Aanholt and rounded Hennessey to make it 2-0 and seal the deal.
How Did This Happen:
It's a real testament to the abilities of the defense, specifically Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, just how well this match went for Liverpool. Van Dijk was able to silence Christian Benteke almost entirely, outside of one header on a corner coming close where Gini Wijnaldum had to mark him, while going ten-for-eleven on accurate longballs with a whopping nine duels won and eight clearances. The entire side, mainly Joe Gomez here, silenced Wilfred Zaha for the vast majority of the match leaving him a bit frustrated. Alisson, though, was a commanding presence in net with a couple nice saves to help keep the clean sheet. What is huge about Alisson to me, though, is his passing. His range opens up so much for Liverpool. Take he and Wayne Hennessey. Hennessey had a perfectly standard game, nothing poor at all, some fine saves, but he only made 26 passes with a passing accuracy of 42.3% and only seven-of-twenty-two longballs being accurate. Now take Alisson, who had 23 passes for an incredible 91.3% passing accuracy, with nine-of-eleven longballs finding their target. His passes down the wing for Andy Robertson opened up so much space for the left-back to run and find a bit of freedom. These first two games have been great for the new Liverpool keeper.
I could not recap this match without praising the opponent. Crystal Palace were exceptional in their game plan and did a very good job stifling the creativity of Liverpool's players. The narrow 4-4-2 forced them to look out wide for movement as is clear by the fact that both full-backs got over 100 touches on the ball. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was very strong in positioning and made three key tackles, including a couple being inside the box, to stop Liverpool attacks in their tracks. Sadio Mane was able to influence the game in different ways and he was able to get past the young Englishman on a couple of occasions, but the red card was a lone black mark on what was an outstanding performance for Palace's budding right-back star. As he covered the left of the attack, it was up to Trent Alexander-Arnold to find answers on the right. He was not on target with his crosses as just two of thirteen were accurate. Many were long, some were short, he was a bit all over the place with them and it forced James Milner to try and drop a bit deeper on the right to help Trent get forward a bit more. It's a credit to Hodgson's side and how disciplined they are that they were able to keep their rigid shape and also look forward a bit to attack as well.
Liverpool did indeed try to get forward and went through a few ways to do so. Roberto Firmino frequently dropped deep in the midfield to receive the ball at his feet and try to make a play. Naby Keita also had a few good runs forward. But Palace, especially throughout the first half, kept all ten men behind the ball and forced Liverpool to pick their way through them and would not allow themselves to get beat. In the category of 'defending while in possession', Liverpool did well to keep a strong link between Gini Wijnaldum, or, at times, James Milner, and the two center-backs, to avoid any possible counter attacks through the middle. You can see in the heatmaps of the match that this worked out pretty well for Liverpool. Zaha drifted typically out left, Wan-Bissaka went down the right, Benteke dropped more left at times, but not much went through the middle. This is not a condemnation of their attack, but more pointing to the fact that the two central players on the evening, Luka Milijvojevic and James McArthur, generally play more holding roles, and while both Andros Townsend and Jeffrey Schlupp do cut inside, both drop back and more frequently defend narrowly as well more than attacking in a central manner.
Final Thoughts and What's Next:
I think this match is a great highlight at showing Liverpool what they will, at times, need to do to compete for the league title this season. Selhurst Park is never easy to win at, but Liverpool have done well to take multiple three-point victories away from there. For Crystal Palace, they can hold their heads up high knowing that they know what needs to be done on their end to make a run into the top-half of the table. They were a fun team to watch and really seem just a couple players (i.e., a creative midfielder, and better number nine for Zaha to play off of) in the system from really becoming a dangerous side all around. It was a gritty win for Liverpool, but praise on the night will go to the two center-backs and goalkeeper, but it was a strong total team effort to get another victory.
Up next for Liverpool, after just five days rest, is a return to Anfield and the chance to square off with a side that toppled their rivals, Brighton and Hove Albion. The Gulls were 16th last season and lost their opener to Watford, but they shocked the footballing world with a 3-2 home victory against Manchester United this past weekend. Chris Hughton's men will hope to continue onward in their quest to topple another giant on Saturday at 12:30 PM EST.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for more LFC coverage, including live Tweets during the matches, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Michigan basketball coverage!
Comments
Post a Comment