The rest of the Premier League take note: Liverpool may have spent almost £300m on new players this summer but that doesn’t make them unbeatable.
Goals from Hugo Ekitiké and Jeremie Frimpong and an impressive performance from Florian Wirtz had looked like being enough to seal a narrow victory against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield, as Arne Slot’s summer signings made an instant impact for the Premier League champions. But even with the possibility that they could still add Alexander Isak to the array of attacking talent already on the books, Oliver Glasner’s well‑drilled side showed that the Reds’ new‑look defence is fallible and Palace deserved to take this game to penalties after equalising for the second time in the afternoon, thanks to Ismaïla Sarr.
It was left to Justin Devenny, on as a substitute, to seal victory for the south London club after Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott all missed in the shootout.
For the FA Cup winners, who contested this occasion for the first time in their history, it was another moment to savour as they await the outcome of their appeal to the court of arbitration for sport against their demotion from the Europa League, which is due to be announced on Monday.
However, after Frimpong and his fellow new signing Milos Kerkez struggled to contain Sarr and the outstanding Eberechi Eze at times, Liverpool may decide to step up their attempts to sign the Palace captain, Marc Guéhi, who left the field with cramp after another all-action display before returning to lift the trophy.
Only eight teams that have won the Community Shield in the Premier League era have gone on to win the title so Slot will not be losing too much sleep over this performance. But having conceded that his side go into the new campaign as favourites after their spending spree, he will be hoping they can be more clinical when they kick off against Bournemouth on Friday night.
It has been a summer of contrasts for these two clubs since they gave each other a guard of honour at Anfield in May. While Slot was able to name Ekitiké, Frimpong, Kerkez and Wirtz – whose fee could end up being a British‑record £116m – in his starting lineup, Glasner selected the same side that started against Manchester City in the FA Cup final. Plans for a repeat of the fantastic tifos that the supporters’ group, the Holmesdale Fanatics, produced for the wins against City and Aston Villa in the semi-final had to be shelved because of new strict Wembley regulations.
Liverpool’s fans behind one goal unveiled a banner in tribute to Diogo Jota before kick-off, with both teams observing a minute’s silence for the Portugal forward and his brother André Silva that was interrupted by a small section in the Palace end.
Slot had confirmed that Ryan Gravenberch was unavailable after his partner gave birth on Saturday night, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones anchoring midfield. It did not take long for his new boys to make an impression as Wirtz and Ekitiké exchanged a one-two on the left-hand side of the Palace penalty area in the fourth minute before the latter fired past Dean Henderson. Another clever touch from Ekitiké to play in Salah set up another golden chance for Cody Gakpo, only for the Palace goalkeeper and the assistant’s flag to deny Liverpool a second.
But Palace have shown they are a match for most these days and they responded immediately after Jean-Philippe Mateta found himself through on goal. He could not take the opportunity as Alisson spread himself but, a few seconds later, Virgil van Dijk was slow in spotting the danger from Sarr and the referee, Chris Kavanagh, had no option but to point to the penalty spot when the Dutchman mistimed his tackle. This time, Mateta made no mistake.
Having looked vulnerable against Eze in defence, like his predecessor Trent Alexander-Arnold, Frimpong is far more comfortable going forward. He was attempting to pick out Ekitiké at the back post when his cross looped over Henderson and in off the far post to restore Liverpool’s lead. Palace’s misfortune continued when Daichi Kamada was forced off with an injury on the half-hour, and his replacement Will Hughes failed to direct a volley on target just after coming on but otherwise added some bite to their midfield.
Ekitiké spurned a brilliant chance to extend Liverpool’s lead at the start of the second half when he headed a Kerkez cross wide with the goal gaping. The Hungary left-back, who was signed from Bournemouth for £40m, looked assured in attack and another excellent cross picked out Ekitiké, only for him to miss the target again.
Palace were growing in confidence as their fans repeatedly voiced opposition to Uefa. Chris Richards tested Alisson from a corner before Eze drew an excellent save from the Brazilian at his near post after being played in by Adam Wharton.
Liverpool seemed to have weathered the Palace storm but a lapse in concentration from Kerkez 13 minutes from time allowed Wharton to play in Sarr and his finish went in off the post. Had it not been for Kerkez’s late intervention, Sarr could have settled it moments later but the Liverpool defender was able to deflect his shot over the bar.
Salah finally had his first sight of goal with eight minutes to play yet the Egypt forward could only fire straight at Henderson, while Devenny was almost Palace’s hero in the last minute before he kept his cool from the spot to send their fans wild after Borna Sosa had missed his chance to seal the shootout.
