This is Sportstar's match blog of the 2020-21 Premier League clash between Liverpool and Crystal Palace on Sunday.
That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!
MATCH REPORT |
Liverpool (69 points) has sealed Champions League qualification with this 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Chelsea (67) finishes fourth despite losing 1-2 to Aston Villa as Leicester City (66) falters 2-4 against Tottenham Hotspur at home. West Ham (65) has claimed the final Europa League spot with a 3-0 victory over Southampton.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
AND IT'S FULL-TIME! LIVERPOOL 2 - 0 CRYSTAL PALACE!!!
90' Three minutes of stoppage time has been added on at the end of the second half! A few substitutions and yellow cards slow the pace of the game. Liverpool finishing third is a formality now.
84' YELLOW CARD! Just the third booking of the game. Crystal Palace's Jairo Riedewald goes into the referee's book for a mistimed tackle on Liverpool's Fabinho.
81' WHAT A CHANCE FOR LIVERPOOL! Mohamed Salah gets a glorious opportunity to extend LFC's lead. But he fires his shot wide from a good position close to the box.
78' SUBSTITUTION! Georginio Wijnaldum leaves the pitch and is replaced by James Milner. The Liverpool crowd gives him a huge round of applause as manager Jurgen Klopp looks on.
75' GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! SADIO MANE SCORESSSS!!! LIVERPOOL 2 - 0 CRYSTAL PALACE!! Mo Salah with the assist and a deflected shot from Mane wrong-foots Vicente Guaita. Liverpool looks set to finish third this season.
72' DOUBLE YELLOW CARDS! Crystal Palace's Jordan Ayew and Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold are both booked by the referee for a tussle during a CPFC throw-in.
69' OFFSIDE! Wilfried Zaha was a little too eager to get to a pass from his Crystal Palace teammate James McCarthy here and the linesman raises his flag.
66' VERY CLOSE! Another Mo Salah move forward for Liverpool. But Crystal Palace throw bodies around him. In the end, Gary Cahill comes up with the all important interception to regain possession for his side.
63' FOUL! Nathaniel Phillips with a clumsy challenge here. The Liverpool centre-back gets away without a card. A much needed break for Crystal Palace.
60' Crystal Palace getting toyed here. It's very surprising that Liverpool still only holds a 1-0 lead right now. The team could have scored more. Meanwhile, Chelsea trailing 0-2 and Leicester City leading 2-1.
57' SUBSTITUTION! Crystal Palace head coach Roy Hodgson decides to bring on the attacking Jeffrey Schlupp to replace the injured James Tomkins on the field. Can the fresh legs bring the equaliser for the visitor?
54' CORNER FOR LIVERPOOL! Rhys Williams' header won this set-piece for the home team. Trent Alexander-Arnold took this one. His floated cross into the box is easily cleared away by Crystal Palace.
51' Liverpool attacking with numbers forward here. Crystal Palace's only hope right now will be a quick counter-attack. Manager Jurgen Klopp looks quite animated in the LFC dugout.
48' FOUL! Thiago Alcantara gets away without a booking despite making a silly challenge. Liverpool has started the second half well and has already come close to doubling its lead.
THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!
Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, home side Leicester City (fifth with 67 points) is tied 1-1 against Tottenham Hotspur (60), which is chasing an European Conference League spot itself. West Ham, leading 2-0 versus Southampton, looks set to seal an Europa League slot.
As things stand, Liverpool (69 points), which is leading Crystal Palace 1-0 at home, occupies the third place in the 2020-21 Premier League standings. Chelsea, despite trailing 0-1 at Aston Villa is in fourth (67) only on goal difference.
AND IT'S HALF-TIME! LIVERPOOL 1 - 0 CRYSTAL PALACE!!!
45' Five minutes of stoppage time has been added on at the end of the first half! Andy Robertson will take a corner for Liverpool now. He goes for a swinging cross but the Crystal Palace defence clears the ball away.
41' ANOTHER LIVERPOOL INJURY! This time it's the other Liverpool centre-back Rhys Williams who goes down to the ground after a collision. He's going out to get stitches now. Jurgen Klopp hasn't made a change.
37' GOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!! SADIO MANE SCORES!!! LIVERPOOL 1 - 0 CRYSTAL PALACE!!!!! This was an Alexander-Arnold corner from the left. The ball fell to Rhys Williams who in turn headed it towards Roberto Firmino at the far post. Firmino's poor first touch luckily fell to Mane who found the back of the net.
33' ANOTHER CHANCE FOR LIVERPOOL! Sadio Mane receives a good pass from Andy Robertson on the left wing. He runs forward and takes shot but it goes wide as Crystal Palace wins a goal-kick.
30' INJURY! Nathaniel Phillips goes down to the ground after a head-on collision. But he's fine to continue. Meanwhile, Jordan Henderson gets a huge applause from the Anfield crowd as he gets ready for his warm-up on the sidelines.
27' FREE-KICK FOR LIVERPOOL! Cheikhou Kouyate brings down Sadio Mane and gets away without receiving a card from the referee. LFC isn't able to capitalise on the set-piece after going for a short pass instead of the cross into the box.
24' OFFSIDE! This was another Mo Salah shot. This time Vicente Guaita made a brilliant save. The rebound fell to Liverpool forward Sadio Mane who was clearly offside. Crystal Palace regains possession.
21' VERY CLOSE! We've seen multiple Liverpool chances in the last couple of minutes. Both Rhys Williams and Salah have hit the ball over the crossbar from close range. Crystal Palace holding on here.
18' FREE-KICK FOR LIVERPOOL! Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara are around the ball. Eventually, Trent takes it. However, the shot misses the target by a whisker. So close!
15' WHAT A CHANCE FOR PALACE! Liverpool centre-back Nathaniel Phillips gives away the ball as Andros Townsend collects it and is one-on-one with Alisson. But he can't even hit the target with his shot. Poor stuff!
12' CORNER FOR LIVERPOOL! Salah won this set-piece for the home team. Andy Robertson took it. But Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita came off his line to collect the ball in the end.
9' CHANCE FOR LIVERPOOL! This is a good move forward. Mo Salah to Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right flank. However, the LFC full-back is unable to send a decent cross into the box.
6' FREE-KICK FOR PALACE! This set-piece is from a good position. Andy Robertson with the infringement for Liverpool. Andros Townsend will take this one. It's a good shot as Alisson pushes the ball out.
3' OFFSIDE! Cheikhou Kouyate was a little too eager to get to a pass from his teammate Jordan Ayew up front. The linesman raises his flag and the referee awards Liverpool a free-kick.
AND THE MATCH BEGINS!
The team lineups are out!
LIVERPOOL XI: Alisson (G), Andy Robertson, Rhys Williams, Nathaniel Phillips, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum (C), Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah.
COACH - Jurgen Klopp.
CRYSTAL PALACE XI: Vicente Guaita (G), Joel Ward, James Tomkins, Gary Cahill (C), Tyrick Mitchell, James McCarthy, Jairo Riedewald, Cheikhou Kouyate, Andros Townsend, Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha.
COACH - Roy Hodgson.
You can also head on to our Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa vs Chelsea Premier League live blogs through the links provided below.
MATCH PREVIEW:
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is familiar with stress on the final day of the Premier League season and said he will rely on experience to get over the line as it looks to seal a top-four spot and qualify for the Champions League.
Chelsea (67 points), Liverpool and Leicester City (66 points each) are in a three-way battle for the last two Champions League places ahead of Sunday's matches.
Liverpool was eighth in March with Champions League qualification looking unlikely, but Klopp's side went on a nine-match unbeaten run to move up to fourth.
RELATED |
"I can't remember a season when we didn't go to the wire. I'm used to stress until the last matchday," Klopp told reporters ahead of his team's home game against Crystal Palace.
"We've found some stability and created confidence again. We've scored in the right moments and conceded fewer. That's what we had to do. But (in) these kinds of games, anything can happen. Nobody should expect the perfect game, I respect Palace too much."
Liverpool beat Palace 7-0 in the reverse fixture in December which has helped Klopp's side maintain a healthier goal difference compared to Leicester.
However, Klopp said that result was irrelevant ahead of a "really intense game" at Anfield and hoped the 10,000 fans returning to the stadium would give them a boost.
ALSO READ |
"You can't imagine how much I'm looking forward to seeing 10,000 fans inside Anfield. It's important that we don't lose patience after one minute, we need the best support," Klopp added.
"Nothing was the same (without fans), we needed to get used to it and we did, but it shouldn't be like this. It makes a difference. We all need support in life, football is a game based on emotion and we were alone."
Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum's contract ends this season and though Klopp said he had no update on a possible extension, he did not question the Dutchman's commitment.
"Gini's character is without question, a sensational guy, completely committed to the club and the team until the last day," Klopp said.
Comments
SHARE