Liverpool stay top with victory at Crystal Palace

Diogo Jota’s early goal was enough to secure Liverpool a 1-0 away victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League and ensure that they go into the international break top of the table. 

The Portuguese forward netted his first league goal since the opening weekend on just nine minutes at Selhurst Park, darting in behind to pick out the bottom-left corner.

It could have been a different story, though, as Palace attacker Eddie Nketiah had a goal ruled out for offside inside the first minute.

The Eagles pushed hard for an equaliser but could not breach Liverpool’s backline despite generating a late flurry of chances.

A sixth victory from seven matches keeps Arne Slot’s men one point ahead at the top of the table before title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City play later on Saturday, while Palace remain without a win in 18th.

How the match unfolded

Just 22 seconds were on the clock when Palace had the ball in the net after Nketiah latched onto Ismaila Sarr’s low cross to dink Alisson, but he had strayed offside.

And they soon found themselves behind, as Jota darted in front of Trevoh Chalobah to poke Cody Gakpo’s cross past Dean Henderson, marking his 100th Liverpool start with a goal.

Henderson then tipped Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low drive wide before Palace almost equalised on the stroke of half-time, Alisson getting down sharply to push Sarr’s low drive away.

Mohamed Salah looked set to get a customary away goal this season, peeling off his marker to chest down Virgil van Dijk’s floated pass, but Henderson rushed off his line to smother his close-range effort.

Palace soon asserted themselves into the match though, with Alisson having to make a trio of saves in quick succession to keep out Nketiah, Eberechi Eze and Chalobah to protect the clean sheet.

The Brazilian was forced off through injury in the final 15 minutes, but Will Hughes and Eze could not beat replacement Vitezslav Jaros, on for his debut, with their long-range efforts.

The wait goes on

It was always going to be a tough task for Palace if they wanted to get their first win of the Premier League season against high-flying Liverpool, though you could not fault the fans for having hope after beating the Reds at Anfield towards the end of last season.

The celebrations may have been cut short after Nketiah’s very early disallowed goal, but the moment showed Palace were capable of causing their in-form visitors problems.

However, as Liverpool dominated possession in the first half, the hosts were stifled, struggling to make any sort of impact in the final- third.

But Palace looked more settled after a double change in the second half saw them switch formation, with the introduction of Jean-Philippe Mateta also providing them with another focal point up top.

It is no surprise that their best chances came after Oliver Glasner’s tactical switch, but even with the small boost given by Alisson’s departure, they still could not find a way past Jaros, who had a calm presence after his unexpected introduction.

Palace remain in the relegation zone heading into the international break, but their manager will already be thinking ahead to a pivotal trip to Nottingham Forest as they await their first three points.

A steady presence

Seven games into the Premier League season and it looks like Slot has seamlessly settled into life on Merseyside, having only had one minor blip so far in a defeat to Forest at Anfield.

Despite the early scare from Nketiah, Liverpool showed their trademark calm under the Dutchman as they soon took control of the contest.

Van Dijk was assured, easily reading Palace’s attempts to play in behind to sweep the danger away, while Ibrahima Konate took the more proactive approach on the press as part of an impressive defence that has still only conceded two goals.

It was Ryan Gravenberch who once again dictated play for the Reds though, orchestrating attacks from midfield and giving Palace a headache as he linked everything together.

With big matches ahead, one worry for Slot will be the muscle injury to Alisson, who cut a frustrated figure when he threw his gloves to the floor as he was forced off late in the game.

Slot may not believe his team are ready to be included among the title contenders just yet, but they have laid down some impressive groundwork to go into the international break top of the league.

When top-flight football resumes, the Reds have an enormous double-header against Chelsea and Arsenal which could provide an indication as to how much staying power they are likely to have.

Club reports 

Palace report | Liverpool report

What managers said

Oliver Glasner: “I think we deserved more at the end. In the first half we could see how good Liverpool are, how quickly they moved the ball."

“We had a great start with the offside goal, and then we had problems and they had the lead. They deserved the lead at half-time.

But the second-half gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. We created chances and also we were good in defending."

Arne Slot: "Really satisfied with how we started the season. It is a good start not only the results, but I liked our performance today."

Next Premier League fixturesKey facts

Arne Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win as many as nine of his first 10 games in charge of the club (L1), while Liverpool have done so to begin a season for the third time after 1961/62 and 1990/91.

Liverpool have won each of their first four away league games to begin a season for just the third time after 1990-91 and 2019-20.

Crystal Palace have failed to win any of their opening seven league games (D3 L4); it’s the fifth time they’ve done so in the Premier League after 1992/93 (D4 L3), 1994/95 (D4 L3), 2004-05 (D2 L5) and 2017/18 (L7).

Liverpool are unbeaten in each of their last 10 Premier League trips to Crystal Palace (W9 D1), only failing to win in a goalless draw in February 2023.