Liverpool have lost more ground in the title race, though faced a Crystal Palace side who are reputable for bloodying the Reds’ noses.
The Reds were made to rue their missed chances as Crystal Palace stunned Jurgen Klopp’s side 1-0 to inflict a huge blow on their Premier League chances.
The Reds came into the contest in third position, after Manchester City beat Luton Town 5-1 the day before. Yet, it was Oliver Glasner’s side who were the more dangerous and before the 15 minute mark, Eberichi Eze finished off a fine team move made up of 20+ passes to put the Eagles into a deserved lead.
From that point, Palace sat back and looked to counter the Merseysiders, who were unbelievably wasteful in front of goal. While Dean Henderson made some incredible saves from Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, the latter missed a golden opportunity to level the game when he struck a half volley from seven-yards right at the ex-Manchester United goalkeeper.
Diogo Jota was brought on for Nunez in the second-half, but the Portuguese international missed a gilt edged chance himself, striking directly at the recovering Nathaniel Clyne, after Dominik Szoboszlai squared the ball to give him an open goal.
Palace almost ended the game against the run of play, when Joachim Anderson nodded the ball down for Jean-Philippe Mateta, but the forward’s half-volley from three yards was miraculously clawed over the crossbar by the returning Alisson Becker.
As Palace missed the opportunity to seal the three points, Curtis Jones went up the other end and missed the target when put through one-on-one against Henderson. It was an afternoon of missed chances for both sides, but Palace managed to hold on to secure an unlikely three points and leave Liverpool’s title challenge hanging by a thread.
Daily Star Sport considers what Jurgen Klopp got wrong.
Deploying the disastrous Atalanta midfield
After Liverpool’s abysmal 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta, Klopp admitted he “didn’t recognise” what Liverpool’s midfield were trying to do. Unbelievably, the exact same midfield trio of Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones were deployed again.
While all three players have enjoyed fine seasons, the midfield balance was completely off. Eze and Michael Olise enjoyed so much space and time in the middle of the pitch. Endo was hauled off early in the second-half in place of the more creative Dominik Szoboszlai.
Persisting with Nunez
With 11 goals and eight assists in 29 Premier League appearances this season, Nunez has had a positive influence on the Reds this season. Unfortunately, his confidence has taken a huge hit and his finishing has become clumsy.
He missed countless opportunities against Atalanta, but was still given the nod against Palace. Many crucial chances came and went for the Uruguayan, but the biggest was his half-volley from ten yards away which was hit straight at Henderson in the Palace goal. Klopp hauled the South American off in the 66th minute, but there was an argument to suggest he should not have started at all.
Not protecting the back-line
There are better teams in the Premier League than Crystal Palace, but they do possess one of the most dangerous frontlines in the division.
Olise and Eze’s guile and technical brilliance combined with the industriousness and intelligence of Jean-Philippe Mateta is enough to pose a threat to any team in Europe.
Yet, the Reds, more often than not, let the dangerous trio run directly at their backline. Olise and Eze are lethal in the wide areas and half spaces, while Mateta is a huge threat when the ball is played in the air or into his feet. Endo provided little protection, while Salah and Diaz seldom tracked back to help the back-line.
Considering the fine margins keeping Liverpool in the title race, they simply took far too many unnecessary risks against the Eagles.
Abandoning calm
Liverpool are the kings of late goals, but they seemed to lose all their composure when the minutes ticked by. Normally, they are calm, meticulous and patient when it comes to breaking down stubborn defences.
On this occasion, each player was trying to force a goal with ridiculously difficult Hollywood passes that rarely come off.
Instead of trying to find the small spaces and play through the lines, the likes of Ibrahima Konate and Van Dijk were resorting to difficult lofted passes over the top, which would need to be absolutely perfect.
They are difficult at the best of times, but when the nerves are jangling and the bums are squeaking, it’s not the right thing to do when pitted against a tall Palace defence.
