Crystal Palace 0 Liverpool 1: Alisson injury, slots rare rotation and elegant Gravenberch

Liverpool managed a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon to maintain their place at the top of the Premier League.

The visitors took the lead early in the game when Diogo Jota took advantage of a move back across the penalty area and fired the ball past Dean Henderson into the Palace net.

Liverpool then dominated the majority of the game, managing twelve shots to Palace’s nine, but failing to score a second. They suffered a setback when Alisson left injured late in the second half, but Vitezslav Jaros, making his Liverpool debut, managed to keep a clean sheet.

Here, The Athletics Experts analyze Liverpool’s victory.

Will Liverpool be worried about Alisson’s injury?

Just when everything seemed to be going according to plan, Alisson fell to the ground desperately holding on to his leg.
Virgil van Dijk signaled to the bench that a change was needed immediately. Alisson took off his gloves as he hit the ground in frustration. Another injury to contend with, only this time there was no Caoimhin Kelleher to replace him. The Irishman was out due to illness.

The 23-year-old Vitezslav Jaros made his debut for the remaining ten minutes. It was a nervous, anxious wait, not only because Alisson is so reliable and had saved Liverpool on several occasions with important saves and interventions, but also because so little was known about his replacement.

Jaros’ first involvement was a nervous shot to clear a corner. His confidence then grew as he denied Eberechi Eze, although the striker should have done more with the finish.

Jaros held his nerve in the final minutes to help Liverpool over the line, but the severity of Alisson’s injury will now be the constant concern.

Greg Evans

How did a rotated Liverpool player fare?

Scarred, perhaps by the defeat to Nottingham Forest, which followed an international break in which most of his players had struggled through two games, Slot decided this was the ideal time to refresh his team.

It’s no secret that the head coach likes to play with a fixed starting lineup, which is why he often makes few changes. Before this weekend, Slot had only swapped out a handful of players and had mostly stuck with the same defense and midfield, so making four changes was a big deal. Curtis Jones replaced Dominik Szoboszlai and fought his way through midfield without neglecting the set pieces. If anything, he gave Liverpool more bite in the middle.

Kostos Tsimikas stepped in at left-back and played with poise and purpose, while Andy Robertson was given a break, and Cody Gakpo maintained his good track record when he was called on to assist for Diogo Jota’s opener.

Slowly but surely, Liverpool are showing that this team may be willing to go the distance. Slot reduced the numbers because he believed it was more beneficial to work with a tight-knit squad and so far every player has responded positively.

Greg Evans

Diogo Jota opens the scoring for Liverpool (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

How did Tsimikas perform when given the chance?

Whether he came on to save Andy Robertson’s legs or was chosen for his tactical suitability, Kostas Tsimikas proved a wise choice – and a callback to one of the dynamics within Slots Feyenoord.

During his 2022–23 title-winning season, Slot Quilindschy used Hartman as his left-back. Hartman quickly developed into one of the best full-backs in the Eredivisie. His ability to spot attacking opportunities and keep the ball moving forward made him a perfect fit for Slot’s team (and became a Dutch international in his first full season of senior football).

Tsimikas played in the same way against Palace, switching between a more inverted role and more traditional full-back positions, often finding space for knife passes upfield. His influence at Selhurst Park may have exposed systemic weaknesses at the Palace. The ball that helped Diogo Jota score the goal cleared space between Maxence Lacroix and Ismailla Sarr on the left.

While his reversal was useful and his passing helped establish and maintain Liverpool’s attacking threat while supporting Gravenberch in numbers in the middle of the pitch, his ability to combine with Cody Gakpo – either through under or overlap – also kept that side of the pitch upright unpredictable. This allowed both players to remain prominent against Palace’s weak right side, which never really slowed either player down.

He was the right player for the right occasion.

Sebastian Stafford Bloor

Has Gravenberch maintained his good form in the new midfield?

Ryan Gravenberch’s form has made him one of the players of the season so far and this was further proof of how profound his influence is. The range in his distribution from the No.6 role to covering many of those passes helped keep Palace constantly off balance.

Gravenberch emerged as a more aggressive player at Ajax – a carrier, actually – and although he is much more static in that position, many of those skills are still present in his game. Saturday was a good example. Gravenberch is a very pressure-resistant player, meaning that every time he touched the ball, Palace were never quite sure whether to pressure him or hold back and take away his passing angles.

Gravenberch during Saturday’s game (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

Ultimately they did neither and he had a great day cutting his passes through the lines and into space, allowing Liverpool to flow forward in numbers and create numerical superiority in attacking positions. It was interesting to see how much chemistry there was in Liverpool’s midfield considering how Slot reshuffled his personnel for this game. Part of this may have simply been due to how consistent the supply from Gravenberch was.

Overall, it was an elegant performance. Gravenberch pirouettes in front of his opponents and evades their tacklers, as does anyone else currently playing that role in this league, and this was another afternoon where his movement off the ball and his use of possession were confidently good.

Sebastian Stafford Bloor

What’s next for Liverpool?

Sunday, October 20th: Chelsea (H), Premier League, 4:30pm UK, 11:30am ET

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(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)