Two mid-table scrappers, that’s certainly what it looked like. Neither Crystal Palace nor Liverpool did enough to deserve to take three points away from this encounter. This was second-rate fare in England’s top-flight.
It was hardly the tub-thumping response that Jurgen Klopp will have wanted from his players after the midweek humbling Real Madrid dished out at Anfield. Liverpool currently look bereft of confidence and give the appearance of running on fumes.
They may well be on their way to an exit from this season’s Champions League but they will not qualify for next season’s competition if they don’t quickly get their act together.
Achieving a top-four finish now appears to be Liverpool’s sole objective for the remainder of this campaign but more dropped points mean that the gap to fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur is still at six points — albeit Liverpool have a game in hand.
Selhurst Park has been a fruitful away venue during Klopp’s tenure, seven wins from seven, however they barely troubled Patrick Vieira’s team on this occasion.
Palace have struggled for goals all term and once again they failed to muster much going forward. Michael Olise was the home side’s best player, but didn’t have to do much to obtain that accolade. Jean-Phillipe Mateta, the home team’s frontline attacker, looked meek and couldn't take advantage of the visitors’ nervy defence.
He failed to capitalise on one Liverpool mix-up and then went on to strike the woodwork, as did Mo Salah and Diogo Jota for the visitors. But they were rare moments of note in a game that never got going.
A draw will no doubt be more welcomed by Palace, shifting them one point further above the drop zone, but they remain without a victory in eight league outings. An alternative spin is that they have now lost only one of their last five matches and this was a hard-won point in a difficult run of games.
Story of the game
This was far from a Premier League classic and at times the Selhurst Park crowd must have wondered which other London attractions they could have enjoyed on this Saturday evening. As night descended and the mercury fell, the game’s quality dropped with it.
Liverpool started confidently enough despite their midweek trouncing, with Klopp having made four changes and turning to experience. A midfield overhaul saw James Milner and Naby Keita join Jordan Henderson in centre-field while Jota also came in for Darwin Nunez, who was out with a shoulder problem.
The visitors passed and moved but made few inroads during a tepid opening. Palace, who were unchanged from the side that were so close to a first league win in seven last weekend before Brentford scored in stoppage-time, simply sat off in a mid-block and barely pressed their under-fire opponents.
When a little pressure was applied it led to Trent Alexander-Arnold carelessly misplacing a pass and sending Mateta through on goal. The Palace striker, starting in place of the absent Wilfried Zaha, should have made Liverpool pay for their sloppiness but lacked conviction when trying to dink Alisson.
Yet Liverpool were equally perfunctory in front of goal despite seeing more of the ball. Jota latched onto a volley inside the Palace area but sent it straight at Vicente Guaita. The Portuguese forward then headed against the post from a tight angle while Alexander-Arnold’s goal-bound free-kick was inadvertently blocked by Henderson.
It was limited fare and Marc Guehi failing to direct a header from close range following a free-kick only added to the meandering feel. However, Palace grew in confidence as the half wore on and Liverpool almost created their own downfall.
The visitors started to look nervy at the back. Joel Matip got the jitters, Keita nearly put the ball into his own net and then Alexander-Arnold was caught out by Jeffrey Schlupp who squared for Mateta but his lifted shot fell onto the top of the crossbar.
Klopp hooked Keita at the break, either because of being on the edge of picking up a second yellow card or due to his subpar first-half showing, or possibly both. Harvey Elliott, his replacement, instantly brought more direction by dinking a lovely ball into the area which Jota just couldn’t quite get on the end of for the visitors.
Salah also curled a shot against the same crossbar that Mateta found late in the first half, but that was were this game’s beer and skittles ended. Both teams made hard work of the second half with a war of attrition starting to take hold.
Both managers made much-needed substitutions 20 minutes out from the finish but even the change in personnel could not liven this match up. The stadium did stand and applaud in the 77th minute in remembrance of John Motson, the legendary commentator, who died aged 77 on Thursday. ‘Motty’ delivered his final Match of the Day commentary from this ground in 2018.
Action on the pitch remained muted, apart from in the 81st minute when Salah pounced on slack Palace possession and broke upfield before feeding Cody Gakpo; Guaita advanced from his line and did enough to put off the Dutch attacker. The goal this game did not deserve never came.
Player of the match: Michael Olise
The Palace midfielder was one of the few players who had a half-decent game. He was confident on the ball and kept drawing fouls from the Liverpool defenders. He could not get Palace in behind the visitors’ backline too often, but that was not due to a lack of wanting.
