Premier League: Liverpool thumps Crystal Palace in dominant win

Catch the highlights of the Premier League clash between Liverpool and Crystal Place at Anfield.

Updated : Jun 25, 2020 02:42 IST

Liverpool's game against Crystal Palace will be the Reds' first home game since the restart.
Liverpool's game against Crystal Palace will be the Reds' first home game since the restart.
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Liverpool's game against Crystal Palace will be the Reds' first home game since the restart.

 

FULL TIME The result was never in doubt and normal service resumes. If Manchester City do not win against Chelsea, the title is sealed! On the night, the Reds were absolutely brilliant. On paper Crystal palace was a tricky customer but in theory, Roy Hodgson's men were nowhere close to troubling the home side. Dominant, impressive win for Klopp's side.

90' + 3' And immediately, Williams finds himself on the edge of the box. He changes the ball between his feet ahd shoots straight at the goal keeper.

90' + 2' Ellito's cross from the left falls to Salah, whose shot is blocked. The rebound falls to Williams and he smacks it on target but is denied by a sliding Sakho.

90' + 1' Lovely ball from Williams to get Salah in but his pass for a tap-in was too close to Hennessey. He looked like he was caught in two minds there.

90' Three minutes added at the end of this half.

86' Oxlade-Chamberlain releases Minamino down the right channel but the pull back falls to no one. Palace clear.

84' Double substution from Jurgen Klopp. Naby Keita and Harvey Elliot comes on for Mane and Robertson.

Pierrick Keiutcha replaces Ayew for Palace.

82' Williams pulls the ball back for Salah, who nearly pulls off a one-two with Minamino that would've seen Palace's defence parted once again. Almost.

76' Lots of passes, mostly in neat triangles, for Liverpool now. In full control and hungry for more.

72' Double change for Liverpool. Minanino and Neco Williams come on for Alexander-Arnold and Firmino.

It is a Premier League debut for Neco Williams.

69' GOAL! MANE! Mane on the left wing, on the shoulder of the last man and beats the offside trap to get to the end of Salah's superb right-foot through ball. He stays calm and slots it low into the corner.

65' Changes for both teams. Henderson is replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain while Palace's double substution sees Milivojevic and Riedewald come on for Kouyate and McArthur.

63' Salah cuts in from the right and his left-footed curler floats just wide. The guy in-charge of the artificial crowd noise expected that to go in because the 'fake' fans went into a frenzy for a moment.

61'   Van Aanholt is brought down by Henderson and that gives the Palace players a change to catch their breath. It has been relentless attcking play from the Reds. The chance of the 3-3 repeat is almost nil.

55' GOAL! FABINHO! He had all the time in the world to pick his spot and from almost 30 yards out he does.. The ball fizzled into the top right with Hennessey having no chance of stopping that. Stunner shot.

53' Fabinho nicks the ball off Meyer. Palace want a free kick, but it’s not a foul. Liverpool sweep up the other end, Robertson trying to get a slice of the full-back-as-goal-hero action from 25 yards. It’s well struck but always rising over the bar.

50' Crystal Palace is doing much better when in possession this half. A few passes being put together but not enough to trouble Liverpool. The intent to score hasn't disappeared yet.

46' Robertson's low cross perhaps should have been easily cleared by Sakho but it goes past the defnder and almost falls to Salah. The Egyptian was too late to react.

46' Palace gets the second half underway.

HALFTIME Crystal Palace set up well, have the right tactical ideas and is doing its best to get in the game but Liverpool has too much quality on the pitch. The Reds are on a different tempo and their intensity has made it difficult for the visiting side to keep up. A deserved 2-0 lead going into the break.

45' Two minutes of added time.

44' GOAL! SALAH! Fabinho shrugs off Ayew's challenge and dinks a perfect ball to Salah. The Egyptian drifts in behind Van Aanholt, chests it down and clips it past Hennessey. His 21st goal of the season.

40' Hennessey races out of his box to head clear under pressure from Mane. The ball falls straight to Salah, whose lob from 40 yards floats wide.

37' Another Liverpool attack and Wijnaldum finishes off a neat move by putting his effort wide.

35' Liverpool players scream for a penalty after Firmino's flick is blocked by Cahill's arm. Martin Atkinson is having none of it though and VAR agrees with him. The proximity probably went in the former Chelsea man's favour.

33' Fabinho takes the setpiece this time and his effort goes well over the bar.

32' Ayew fouls Fabinho and Liverpool has another freekick, this time in a central position.

28' Kouyate fouls Wijnaldum to the left of the box and Liverpool gets another freekick. The delivery falls to Henderson, who volleys a shot onto the left-hand post. Van Dijk tries to get on the rebound but Ward blocks and clears for a corner.

23' GOAL! Trent Alexander-Arnold scores! He curled over the Palace wall and into the top corner. Hennessey had no chance of saving that. That's only his second goal at home.

21' Ayew nudges Van Dijk at the edge of the bo and Liverpool gets a free kick, 25 yards out in a central position.

16' Firmino gets in behind the Palace defence but his shot is tame and into Hennessey's hands comfortably.

15' And the change happens. Zaha is replaced by Max Meyer.

12' Zaha is down holding his legs. He is up and jogging around gingerly. Should be an early substitution for Palace.

10' Mane holds Ward on the left, makes some space for himself and shoots long from a tight spot. Henderson, at the other end, volleys wildly into the stand.

8' Miss by Wijnaldum! Henderson's cross from the right in not cleared well by Townsend. It drops for Wijnaldum, who sends it wide from six yards out.

5' Liverpool, as expected, on the front foot while Palace is camped in its own half.

The visiting side, set up in a 4-5-1 formation, will be looking to break at speed on the counter, particularly with the pace of Townsend and Zaha.

3' Mane finds Salah with a nice diagonal ball on the right as Liverpool does its best to stretch Palace's defence.

KICKOFF!

Home advantage? Liverpool has won every single one of its 15 league games at Anfield this season, while having the best home attack and best home defence.

If you go further back in time, Liverpool's home streak stands at a top-flight record 22. Its unbeaten run at Anfield is now at 55 games, stretching all the way back to April 2017 - more than three years ago!

And the last team to win at Anfield? Tonight's opponent Crystal Palace!

— League form

Liverpool: WWWLWD

Crystal Palace: LLWWWW

— STARTING XIs

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane

Crystal Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Sakho, Cahill, Van Aanholt; Kouyate, McCarthy, McArthur; Ayew, Townsend, Zaha

— Team news

Liverpool: Both Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson did not play in the Merseyside derby but are in contention to feature tonight.

James Milner limped off against Everton and is expected to miss tonight's game. Matip is also said to be a doubt, meaning Joe Gomez could be forced to play at left-back again while Dejan Lovren could partner Virgil van Dijk is Robertson misses out.

Xherdan Shaqiri is not expected back for this match, while Nathaniel Clyne remains a long-term absentee.

Crystal Palace will be without James Tomkins, Jeffrey Schlupp and Martin Kelly, who all missed the win against Bournemouth too. Apart from that, Roy Hodgson has now new concerns.

This and that. One one hand, Liverpool has failed to win only three league games this season. On the other hand, it is currently on a run of just one win in five games across competitions.

Liverpool has dropped more points in its last three league games than it did in its previous 38. And its last three top-flight wins have all been narrow ones: by a solitary goal!

The visiting side at Anfield today is in flying form. And is in the discussion for European qualification.

The Eagles' 2-0 win against Bournemouth saw them win four games in a row without conceding for the first time in their top-flight history! It is also the longest ongoing winning run in the Premier League.

Liverpool returned to action on Sunday with a goalless draw against Everton at Goodison Park, which leaves it five points away from glory.

  • Hello! Tonight's final Premier League clash sees Liverpool hosting Crystal Palace at Anfield, which will also be the Reds' first behind-closed-doors home game since the season resumed.
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