The match versus Fulham
Liverpool's opening game of the Premier League season came against newly promoted Fulham. The Reds entered the match on a positive note after winning the Community Shield vs Premier League champions Manchester City, as well as a long and healthy preseason.
New signing Darwin Nunez also added a boost to the squad after the departure of Liverpool legend Sadio Mané.
Fulham played emphatically, with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring the only goal in the first half.
Liverpool found themselves all over the place in the first 45 minutes, struggling to string more than 2 passes together and failing to deal with the constant pressure and energetic football coming from the home side at Craven Cottage.
It looked likely that the Reds would find a way back to grab the three points after coming out in the second half and dealing with the pressure a lot more efficiently.
Substitute Darwin Nunez then equalised the tie just 8 minutes before Virgil van Dijk conceded a lazy penalty, allowing Mitrovic to score his second of the day.
Liverpool's Egyptian King Mohammed Salah eventually came to the rescue, scoring on the opening game of the season for the sixth time in a row, ending the tie as a 2-2 draw.
Fulham manager Marco Silva insisted that his team deserved the three points, while Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had his say on the matter, stating that the result "felt like a loss."
Last season was almost a history-making one for the Merseyside club, so to say that the start to this campaign wasn't desirable would be an understatement.
So, how can the Reds bounce back from this embarrassing result?
Looking ahead to the game against Crystal Palace
With the expectations so high for Jurgen Klopp's squad, it is largely expected that Liverpool will bounce back on their return to Anfield for the first time since the competitive season started.
Ahead of the game, Jurgen Klopp gave an update after his squad has suffered an early injury crisis, particularly in the midfield.
On Thiago:
“Thiago is good, but the injury is not good,”
“The timeframe? I read four to six weeks! I would prefer four, we’ll see…”
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On Naby Keita and Kostas Tsimikas:
“Naby will be back for Monday,”
“Kostas will train today for the first time as well so might be back.”
Credit: https://www.thisisanfield.com/
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Palace have consecutively lost to Liverpool in their past 10 head-to-heads. That's their longest losing run in the top flight.
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Palace didn't lose a single Monday kick-off in the Premier League last season.
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Mohammed Salah has never scored in match week 2 of the Premier League.
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Liverpool have won their first home game of the season for the past 9 years.
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One of the more memorable games in this fixture is the 7-0 triumph by Liverpool back in December 2020. The victory saw the likes of Mo Salah, Takumi Minamino, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mané all make the scoresheet.
Another match in recent history to look back on is the 4-3 thriller than ended in Liverpool's favour, which saw two injury-time goals from Max Meyer and Sadio Mané, as well as a red card for midfielder James Milner.
Crystal Palace will be hoping to end their poor form versus Liverpool, after failing to beat the Merseyside team in the Premier League since April of 2017, a 2-1 victory at Anfield.
The likes of Wilfried Zaha and Jeffrey Schlupp will be ones to watch, as the pair tend to cause problems for their opponents.
Where to watch the match
UK:
The match can be watched live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Go Extra.
USA:
The game will be streamed on USA Network and Universo (NOW).