Liverpool have scored early in London through Emre Can to give the Reds a 1-0 lead over Crystal Palace.
They’ve enjoyed 67 percent of the early possession, and Emre Can was the benefactor of a wonderful Liverpool move. Captain Jordan Henderson played a one-touch pass to Philippe Coutinho, who took one touch before lobbing a perfect ball over the Palace defense to Albert Moreno.
The out-of-favor left back, playing because of James Milner’s injury, delivered an accurate pass to Emre Can, whose first-time effort found the back of the goal after taking a slight deflection.
Liverpool need to win to keep pace with Manchester City and Arsenal, both of whom won their earlier matches in comprehensive fashion. The Reds are playing freely, devoid of stress and with an abundance of confidence.
Sir Alex Ferguson reckons Liverpool, under Jurgen Klopp’s tutelage, can win the Premier League this year. It would be tough to conflate that statement with the way Liverpool’s offense has performed in the first nine games.
The Reds can score at will, with Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Milner all tied atop of the team’s goal-scoring leaderboard with four apiece. It’s a lethal triumvirate, especially when considering that Milner plays in defense. Then again, he takes the team’s penalties so the stat is a wee bit misleading.
Liverpool have lost three of their last four encounters against Palace. The good news for Liverpool supporters is that win came in the last game, in March 2016.
Next: Who will be the first manager to get the sack?
Crystal Palace have scored in their last nine games against Liverpool. You’d have to go all the way back to December 1997 to find the last time the Reds kept a clean sheet against the Londoners.
Palace have two wins in their last five and have lost two on the bounce. Palace and Liverpool have only kept two clean sheets between so you’d expect this game to have a few more goals.