FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Zaha bursts down the left again but his low cross is snaffled by Karius. And that’s Palace’s last thrust. The whistle goes, and Mo Salah has done the business for Liverpool again. They didn’t play well at all today, but ground that one out, and may consider that what goes around, comes around: Sadio Mane was unlucky not to win a penalty in the first half; he was very fortunate to escape a red card in the second. Palace remain a couple of points above the relegation zone, while Liverpool move into second for an hour or two at least, a point ahead of Manchester United having played two games more.
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90 min +3: Benteke wins a header and sends the ball down the middle. McArthur threatens to break into the box but Lovren deals with the danger.
90 min +2: Zaha doesn’t deserve to be on the losing side; he’s been sensational. He teases Alexander-Arnold down the left, but his cross is too deep and Robertson deals with it on the other flank.
90 min +1: Benteke tries to spin round Lovren, who has a bit of his shirt in his hand. Robertson gets involved, to usher the ball out of play as Benteke falls to the ground. He wants a penalty but isn’t getting it.
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
89 min: Fosu-Mensah’s first act is to send a dribbler of a shot harmlessly wide right from 25 yards.
88 min: Fosu-Mensah comes on for Wan-Bissaka.
87 min: Liverpool are struggling to hold onto the ball. Salah over-elaborates again in the midfield, allowing Palace to stop a counter-attack. It’s very scrappy right now.
85 min: That’s Salah’s 29th goal in the Premier League this season. Will it earn the three points for Liverpool? Well, Palace win a corner down the right, Liverpool clear, then Salah plays a cushioned header backwards and puts his own team in trouble. The visitors hack clear again. This isn’t over!
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool (Salah 84)
It’s that man again! Oxlade-Chamberlain crosses deep from the right. Robertson knocks it back into the middle, first time. Salah takes a touch to take the sliding Sakho out of the game, and flicks into the bottom left from six yards.
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83 min: A long right-wing cross is dropping to Firmino on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Wan-Bissaka eyebrows it away from danger just in time, then refuses Firmino space to turn and attack again. Fine defending. Alexander-Arnold ends up blasting over ambitiously from a deep position on the right.
82 min: Robertson’s low cross is nearly deflected into his own net by Wan-Bissaka. The resulting corner comes to nothing.
81 min: Zaha plays a ball forward down the left for Townsend. He’s taken out by Matip as he does so. The move breaks down immediately and Palace don’t get the free kick. The Selhurst faithful explode in anger. The referee hasn’t really pleased anyone today.
79 min: Alexander-Arnold whips a cross towards Firmino at the near post. Firmino can’t connect, and Salah hasn’t gambled on a run in the middle. Palace clear again.
77 min: Wan-Bissaka dribbles down the right and earns a corner off Robertson. Lovren heads the set piece clear. Liverpool go up the other end through Oxlade-Chamberlain and Milner. The pair combine well down the inside right. Milner enters the box and centres. Salah is waiting to poke home, but Sakho reads the play marvellously and hacks clear. Good luck calling the winner of this match.
76 min: Palace are winning most of the 50-50s right now. The excellent Milivojevic strips Firmino in the middle and nearly threads a pass through to release Townsend. Liverpool deal with it, but the margins are slim.
74 min: Zaha glides away from Matip and enters the Palace area. He stands one up for Townsend on the penalty spot, but the ball doesn’t drop to allow a shot. Robertson smacks clear.
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73 min: Liverpool have already made all of their three changes; Palace make their first. Loftus-Cheek comes on for Cabaye.
72 min: Some possession for Liverpool. They’re going nowhere. The Mane affair, followed by the Lallana injury, has taken the wind out of their attacking sail. Alexander-Arnold tries to find Firmino in the middle from the right. His cross is wild, but nearly drifts over Hennessey and into the top left. Not quite.
70 min: Lovren comes on in Lallana’s stead.
69 min: Milner comes across to pat his stricken team-mate on the chest as the stretcher comes on. Lallana gets up and limps off under his own steam, but this is a blow for Liverpool as they enter a crucial phase of the season.
68 min: Lallana goes into a 50-50 with Milivojevic. He lands awkwardly on his right knee, and goes down in some pain. This doesn’t look promising for the injury-dogged midfielder. They’ve got an ice pack out. He’s only been on the pitch for four minutes.
66 min: This game is on a knife-edge now. Palace are aggrieved that Liverpool aren’t down to ten men. Van Aanholt gets involved with Salah over a throw in the midfield. Everything’s being contested. This could be a fun finale.
64 min: Now Mane does leave the field, but only because he’s hooked for Lallana. And it’s a double change for Liverpool, as Wijnaldum is replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain.
62 min: Van Aanholt pearls the free kick towards the top left. Karius saves at full stretch, and the resulting corner comes to nought. Liverpool have got away with one there.
61 min: Palace want a second yellow for Mane, and one of their players performs the mime. Henderson gets involved. The referee isn’t interested in any further punishment. Well, well.
60 min: Mane is tripped just to the right of the D by Townsend. He wants a free kick but isn’t getting it. So he grabs the ball. It’s a free kick for intentional hand ball, in a very dangerous position.
59 min: Palace should be leading II. A clumsy van Dijk is stripped by Townsend, who tears down the right. He’s got Benteke and Zaha on his inside. Benteke takes charge ... and loops the ball over the crossbar. What a pair of terrible misses.
58 min: Palace should be leading again. Milner’s pass inside from the right is blocked by Milivojevic. The ball loops to Townsend, who heads down for Benteke. He’s one on one, with Karius off his line. But he leans back and shanks it wide right.
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56 min: There may be the odd question about Alexander-Arnold at the back, but he’s impressive going forward. He floats a ball into the Palace box from the right, and nearly finds Salah. Hennessey comes off his line to claim confidently.
54 min: Liverpool knock it around in the metronomic manner. Suddenly Robertson breaks down the left and fires a low ball through the box. Alexander-Arnold returns it. Salah is on hand, waiting to sidefoot home, but Sakho gets there just in time to clear.
52 min: Alexander-Arnold earns a corner down the right off McArthur. From the set piece, van Dijk attacks the ball. Milivojevic had a fistful of his shirt, and Liverpool want a penalty, but they’re not getting it. As a result, van Dijk’s header isn’t all that.
51 min: Salah, to the right of the D, tries to float a chip over Hennessey and into the top left. It’s really not that far away. Just over. Liverpool appear to have had a half-time talking-to.
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GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Liverpool (Mane 49)
Mane bursts down the right, then pulls back for Salah, who chips to Milner on the left. Milner turns Wan-Bissaka this way and that, then fires low into the centre. Mane had drifted in, and slams a sidefoot home from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Palace were stretched to breaking point there.
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47 min: Benteke bests van Dijk in the centre circle, then spreads the play wide left for Van Aanholt. Liverpool are light at the back, but Van Aanholt clanks a pass straight through to Karius, with Zaha and McArthur in good positions. A lively end-to-end start to the half.
46 min: Liverpool were out early, and they’re on the attack early. Mane probes down the left. Alexander-Arnold on the right. Nothing doing in the middle.
And we’re off again! Liverpool get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. Incidentally, Sky showed both penalty incidents at half-time. Karius really did suffer from a rush of blood coming off his line to wipe Zaha out, though he wasn’t helped by more dozy defending by Alexander-Arnold. Meanwhile there was definitely contact by McArthur on Mane, who would have won a penalty had he gone down immediately. But his delayed artistic fling convinced the referee otherwise. You can be sure Klopp will mention that incident if they go on to lose this game.
Half-time reading: This isn’t the only big Premier League fixture in London Town today. Here’s our man Jacob Steinberg ahead of a big showdown out east later on.
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 1-0 Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp rants in the expressive style on the touchline. And then the whistle goes. You can bet his half-time team talk will be quite the event. Roy Hodgson looks content, though: his plan is working well, thanks to Loris Karius’s rush of blood and Luka Milivojević’s cool penalty kick.
45 min: McArthur is booked for a late clip on Milner. He complains, but you can tell his heart’s not in the argument. A fair enough decision.
44 min: The set piece is whipped in from the right. Mane, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, flashes a header towards the bottom left. It’s a fine effort, but unfortunately for Mane, Hennessey stretches out to tip the ball away from danger. A superb save. It’s not been Mane’s half.
43 min: Mane battles hard to win the ball on the edge of the Palace box. Firmino and Mane take turns to fashion snapshots under pressure. The ball deflects out for a corner.
41 min: Salah cuts in from the right and looks for the top left. It’s an easy take for Hennessey.
39 min: Firmino flashes a wild effort miles off target. Then Benteke clatters into van Dijk for the third time in as many minutes. This time it’s an accident, though the defender rubs his ankle in pain. He looks OK to continue, though.
38 min: Benteke is lectured for waving an arm in van Dijk’s grid. Then seconds later, he’s booked for cynically clipping the heel of the same player. That’s the height of stupidity, having just been talked to by the ref. The official had no option.
36 min: Milner wastes a corner on the left. Henderson floats a pass in from the right; Mane can’t control on the edge of the box. Liverpool look frustrated. Roy Hodgson’s plan is working sweetly.
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34 min: Liverpool continue to hog the ball, but Palace are holding their shape impressively. “If Henderson’s spectacular pass flew into the crowd then it really was Gerrard style,” writes Felix Wood, before adding: “HONK.”
32 min: Mane, to a chorus of boos, skates down the left. His cross is too long, but hooked back into the mixer by Alexander-Arnold. Hennessey is all over the shop, but with Firmino lurking, and waiting to head into the unguarded net, Kelly flicks away from danger. Great last-ditch stuff from the Palace man.
30 min: Good work by Alexander-Arnold, Milner and Salah down the right. The ball is worked to Firmino, just to the right of the D. He shoots. The ball deflects off Sakho for the corner. Firmino wins a header from the set piece. It’s sailing harmlessly towards the left-hand side of the net. Hennessey has it covered, but Mane flicks it on ... and in! But it’ll not count, because Palace had pushed up as Firmino won the first header, and Mane is offside.
28 min: Salah gets his first sniff of the afternoon. He’s found by Alexander-Arnold in the area on the right. He turns Van Aanholt and looks to curl one into the bottom left. But he can’t get the shot across Hennessey, who smothers.
27 min: Milner charges Benteke to the floor in the middle of the park. Palace camp on the edge of Liverpool’s box. But again the free kick is wasted, Van Aanholt rolling one in the direction of Zaha down the left, but only sending it through to Karius again.
26 min: Liverpool are pressing Palace back, Mane probing down the right. But his cross inside is to nobody in particular, and Hennessey gathers.
24 min: A series of PlayStation flicks by van Dijk, Mane and Salah. Mane then bursts into the Palace box down the right. McArthur slides in on him, and knocks his leg. Mane thinks about it, then goes to ground in exaggerated fashion. He wants a penalty, but the delayed contact means he’s getting booked for simulation instead. Firmino and Sakho, both standing nearby, burst into laughter.
22 min: Henderson tries to release Alexander-Arnold down the right with a spectacular Gerrard-style diagonal pass. It flies straight into the crowd, much to the amusement of the locals. Full marks for ambition, though.
20 min: The rain’s coming down in south London. An afternoon for slick passing. Liverpool are doing the majority of it, but all in the midfield. Palace are looking extremely comfortable.
18 min: Milner tries to free Mane down the left, but Kelly is across to intercept and clear. Milner then dinks a pass down the middle, in the hope of releasing Salah into the area. But Van Aanholt is over to shepherd the ball back to Hennessey. That’s fine covering by the Palace defence.
16 min: With the Liverpool box loaded, and the visitors’ knees knocking, Milivojevic gently chips the free kick into the arms of Karius. That’s kind of him.
15 min: Selhurst is bouncing now. Liverpool have had 75% possession, though much good it’s done them. Firmino has a whack from distance, but it’s no good. Then van Dijk plays a heavy back pass to Karius, which the keeper shanks upfield. Milner is forced to knock Cabaye to the ground, 30 yards from goal. Free kick. Liverpool look rattled.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Liverpool (Milivojevic 13 pen)
Milivojevic slams the ball into the bottom left, sending Karius the wrong way. The keeper wasn’t getting to that even if he’d decided correctly. What a clinical penalty! Palace take the lead ... and deservedly so.
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Penalty for Palace!
12 min: Benteke flicks a long ball on down the inside-left channel. Zaha is ahead of Alexander-Arnold again. He brings the ball down inside the area, but is taken out by Karius! An obvious decision, and a booking for the keeper.
11 min: Mane chases a long ball down the left and threatens to turn Sakho inside out. But the defender sticks to his man, and blocks the eventual cross out for a corner. From the set piece, van Dijk rises above Sakho. It’s on target, but Hennessey is probably saving it, so Mane tries to flick it on, and into the top corner. It’s wide.
9 min: The corner is a complete waste of time. But Palace were very close to taking the lead there. Fine direct play.
8 min: McArthur, in the centre circle, plays a long pass down the middle. Zaha gets in ahead of Alexander-Arnold. For a second it looks as though he’s going to do a Rashford on the defender, bringing the ball down and looking for the top right. But Karius turns the ball round the post with his chest (!). Corner.
6 min: Mane drops deep, then spreads a glorious low diagonal left-to-right pass to spring Palace’s defence and get Alexander-Arnold racing into space. The young wing-back’s cross isn’t up to much, because he didn’t have much pitch to run into. Palace sitting deep.
5 min: Palace are sitting back, holding their shape. Van Dijk and Matip pass it this way and that at the back, having yet to work out how to pick the lock. It’s early, everyone’s finding their feet.
4 min: Benteke drops a little deep on the left and hooks a fine reverse pass down the middle. Robertson guides the ball back to Karius, under pressure from Townsend, who claims a hand ball on the edge of the area. He’s not getting the decision.
2 min: Benteke goes up with Henderson in the midfield. He wins the physical battle. Mane picks up possession soon enough, though, but can’t find Salah down the right. All a bit scrappy so far.
And we’re off! Palace get the ball rolling. Kelly launches it long. Alexander-Arnold pumps it back upfield. The Premier League is back!
The teams are out! Crystal Palace wear their red-and-blue striped shirts, which pushes Liverpool into second-choice green-and-white quarters. There’s quite a noise at Selhurst Park, as there always is at one of the most atmospheric grounds in the land. Some hand-clasping in the tunnel beforehand, as Mamadou Sakho and Martin Kelly renew acquaintances with Jordan Henderson. Not 100 percent convinced the Liverpool captain was in the mood for friendly chat then, especially as Palace had kept his team waiting in the corridor, taking their own sweet time to come out of the dressing room. Roy the mind-games master.
To while away the time until kick-off, here’s a stat they’ve just flashed up on the television. Christian Benteke is renowned for bothering Liverpool’s defence. But where does he stand in the modern pantheon? Here are the players who have scored the most Premier League goals against Liverpool since August 2012:
7: Jamie Vardy
6: Christian Benteke, Jonathan Walters
5: Sergio Aguero, Olivier Giroud, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku
I was bored, so I went off to find out where they’d stand on the all-time list. According to the LFC History database, that lot still have some work to do. This also includes the FA Cup, I think, but still.
21: Charlie Buchan
19: Dixie Dean
16: Bobby Gurney
15: John Bradford, Harry Hampton
14: Martin Peters, Steve Bloomer
Jurgen Klopp speaks to Sky. “A good result today would make all the difference, but it would not give us an excuse for not performing in the next few games. So we have to separate it from other games and stay fully focused. We are playing for the League. We know the difficulty of the challenge but that is why we are here and we will try to win the game. We could have made another line-up, but we have four days until the next game, there is no reason. It is a hard job, Wilfried Zaha is back, he is a big player for them. It will be hard work. We will be fully focused on defending, the first line of Palace is not a line-up fighting to stay in the League, it is crazy. It is strong, strong, strong.”
The big news for Palace: Wilfried Zaha has conquered his knee problem and starts. That means Roy Hodgson names a team with just two changes from the win at Huddersfield: in come Martin Kelly and Yohan Cabaye, replacing James Tomkins and Jeff Schlupp. Kelly is one of four former Liverpool employees facing their old club today, along with Mamadou Sakho, Christian Benteke and of course Hodgson. These things can pan out either way, can’t they.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp doesn’t shuffle the pack too much, either. Joe Gomez and Emre Can are injured, so their places are taken by Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Milner. Other than that, it’s the same starting XI as the Watford game.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Wan Bissaka, Kelly, Sakho, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Milivojevic, Cabaye, Townsend, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Loftus-Cheek, Lee, Cavalieri, Souare, Fosu-Mensah, Delaney, Riedewald.
Liverpool: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Clyne, Lovren, Moreno, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mignolet, Ings.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire).
Preamble
Of course we all love international week ... but it’s rather nice that the Premier League is back, yes? And it’s back with a bang, a fixture that has huge implications at both ends of the table. Crystal Palace are just a couple of points above the relegation places; Liverpool are desperate to secure a berth in next season’s Champions League. Both teams would desperately love the three points today ... but nobody will be feeling totally confident about securing them.
On the one hand, you’d expect Liverpool to win this match. They beat Palace at Anfield earlier in the season, while they’ve won on their last three visits to Selhurst Park. They’ve tasted victory in nine of their last 12 Premier League matches; Palace have lost four of their last five. They’ve rattled in 73 goals so far in this campaign; Palace have only managed 30.
But football is never that simple, and the Eagle has something of the sign over the Liver Bird. Palace have triumphed in four of their last seven league meetings with Liverpool ... and of course before that, in 2014, there was Crystanbul, that three-goal comeback and the symbolic crushing of Brendan, Luis and Steven’s title-winning dream. These things leave scars. And we haven’t even broached the subject of Roy Hodgson.
In addition, Palace are a much better side than their position in the division suggests. They’re coming off the back of a spirit-boosting win at Huddersfield Town, and though they’ve recently been defeated by Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea, the games have all been close. Plus the fact they’ve got Christian Benteke, who has scored six times in eight Premier League matches against his old club. If they can also call on Wilfried Zaha, who has been nursing a sore knee, they’ll cause Liverpool no end of worry.
Liverpool, on the other hand, have Mo Salah. Among other talents. So it’s swings and roundabouts.
This isn’t the be-all and end-all for either team. Both have reasonably favourable run-ins to come, so a slip-up here wouldn’t end the world. But three points are always most welcome, especially when you’re slapping them on the board before anyone else gets to play their match in this round of fixtures. It’s a fascinatingly poised duel. It’s Jurgen Klopp’s 100th game in the Premier League. It’s on!
Kick off: 12.30pm BST.
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