Advertisement

Football's new tinkerman Jurgen Klopp helps Liverpool overcome Crystal Palace

Harvey Elliott celebrates/Mohamed Salah scores 200th Liverpool goal in dramatic late comeback win over Palace
Harvey Elliott's late goal completed the win after Mohamed Salah's milestone strike - Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Jurgen Klopp has become this season’s ‘tinkerman’ and it was his final two changes that inspired a late comeback victory for Liverpool against 10-man Crystal Palace, and kept his team’s title bid on track.

Liverpool manager Klopp made five changes from the side that beat Sheffield United on Wednesday night and made five more from the substitutes’ bench as he attempted to inject some life into his team at Selhurst Park.

Klopp has chopped and changed his team more than any other Premier League manager so far this season and the decision to send on substitutes Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones proved to be the turning point.

Liverpool have now won 18 points from losing positions this season, underlining the point that his team have the mentality to pull them through when performances are not quite up to scratch.

That was certainly the case on Saturday lunchtime, when Klopp admitted that his side were second best before the game flipped on its head following his substitutions.

Barely 60 seconds after replacing Darwin Nunez, Elliott was fouled by Jordan Ayew, which earned the Palace forward his second yellow card. And moments later, Jones, on for Dominik Szoboszlai, teed up Mohamed Salah to equalise with his 200th goal for Liverpool.

It was Elliott who then won the game for the visitors with a 20-yard shot in the first minute of time added on for stoppages that beat Palace’s substitute goalkeeper Remi Matthews after Sam Johnstone had gone off injured.

“The subs were super influential and made a super impact,” said Klopp. “That’s actually the story of the season so far, what we bring from the bench. From the last 14 minutes we deserved it, before then we deserved nothing.

“The bad thing about the amount of games we play is that it’s really tiring. The good thing is they all can play and they have to play, so we can make these kinds of moves like today. Because one is the player change and we changed the system. That helped as well. We tried everything and it worked out.”

Liverpool were also indebted to their returning goalkeeper Alisson Becker who made two superb saves, the second of which came in the 10th minute of time added on.

Saturday’s late comeback got Liverpool off the hook after it had appeared that Klopp’s dislike of 12.30pm kick-offs would be exacerbated by what would have been a first defeat in nine League games.

A Jean-Philippe Mateta penalty had threatened to put a sizable dent in Liverpool’s title bid and give Palace what would have been a timely boost.

It was one of the five players Klopp drafted in, Jarell Quansah, who conceded the unnecessary second-half penalty from which Palace substitute Mateta scored.

Jarell Qaunsah (R) - Football's new tinkerman Jurgen Klopp helps Liverpool overcome Crystal Palace
Jarell Qaunsah (right) concedes the penalty with a swipe across Mateta's ankle - Getty Images/Adrian Dennis

Klopp’s out-of-sorts side took until the 45th minute to register a shot on target and Becker had to be in top form to deny Jefferson Lerma.

Lerma’s effort was brilliantly saved by Alisson before the ball bounced on to the post and was cleared by Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Moments later, Liverpool were relieved to see a penalty, awarded by referee Andy Madley for a supposed Virgil van Dijk foul on Odsonne Edouard, ruled out following a Var check for a foul in the build up by Will Hughes on Wataru Endo.

Mateta replaced Edouard at the break for the hosts and it was the substitute who was fouled by Quansah in an incident that went largely unnoticed.

Play continued without anybody knowing a Var check was taking place before Madley stopped play, went to the screen and quickly awarded a penalty that Mateta scored.

Liverpool struggled to respond until Klopp made his final two substitutions. Palace manager Roy Hodgson was booked for his protests against Ayew’s second yellow card and was annoyed by his first booking, which was awarded for getting in the way of a Van Dijk free-kick.

“Van Dijk took the opportunity to get him [Ayew] the first yellow card by firing the ball at him from a couple of yards away,” said Hodgson. “That’s disappointing. If you’re Liverpool Football Club, you don’t need players of Van Dijk’s quality and status in the game to try to get a player a yellow card by kicking the ball against him. And the second I thought was a good challenge. Even if deemed a foul, which it could have been, it wasn’t a yellow card.

“I’ve been in football a long time and I realise after things like today that when the day comes to leave it behind I won’t be missing anything.”


Crystal Palace 1 Liverpool 2: as it happened


03:15 PM GMT

Roy Hodgson speaks

We’ve had a lot of hard ones to take along the way and this is another one. I’ve got to say I’m gutted for the players because I’m gutted about the way the game panned out. Having to play with 10 men for the last 15-20 minutes was unbelievably harsh on us. I don’t think it was worthy of a red card the way we played. And the amount of fouls we committed  was one or two less than Liverpool.

I probably deserved my yellow card [but the others weren’t all deserved].

It’s saddening for me to see how well the boys did against the odds and have to come away having lost.

Van Dijk took the opportunity to get him [Ayew] the first yellow card by firing the ball at him from a couple of yards away. That’s disappointing. If you’re Liverpool Football Club, you don’t need players of Van Dijk’s quality and status in the game to try to get a player a yellow card by kicking the ball against him. And the second I thought was a good challenge. Even if deemed a foul, which it could have been, it wasn’t a yellow card.

I’ve been in football a long time and I realise after things like today that when the day comes to leave it behind I won’t be missing anything.

I’ve never had any doubt about the players. We are going through a bad spell which looks like continuing after today. We have to survive it and get our players fit again.

These players will keep us in the Premier League but if you keep raising the barriers and say you want us to finish in the top 10 it will be very difficult [with these players and on this budget].

We have to reinforce in the centre of midfield. We’re light there after losing Doucoure. I am pleased with Richards and we need help in the eight positions. This squad will get us through but I should be standing here about a 1-1 but that performance has been turned into a 1-2.

I’m absolutely sick of refereeing and referees’ incentives. I’m sick about the hand ball interpretations, I’m sick about yellow cards for ‘time-wasting’, sick about player behaviour throughout the game. As coaches we’re trying to do our job, trying to get a bot of advice but every time you step forward, get close to me, the guy’s screaming at me to sit down.

I don’t understand why we have a referee out there who gives a penalty for the first one and changes it then doesn’t give a penalty for the second one and changes it. Is he refereeing the game or is it being refereed from an office.

I’m in a bad mood and you probably shouldn’t be talking to me.


03:00 PM GMT

Klopp speaks

They get the red card and we immediately get the equaliser and from that point on we played really well. We have had much more problems [in the past] against 10 men but we did it really well today. You saw that subs can make a massive difference. Actually it’s their job!

Harvey played a wonderful game, scored a wonderful goal. I am really happy for him. Curtis came on [and played well], Joe Gomez, oh my God! We changed system and worked them out.

I told the boys that is the first time we have played so badly for 76 minutes and still win it. In the spirit of the year we said after the Sheffield United game you get through it and have to get results.


02:46 PM GMT

I think this is a fair point


02:45 PM GMT

Those 200 goals broken down


02:42 PM GMT

Mo Salah on his 200th goal

The most important thing is we won the game. When we win and I score it’s a great feeling. I am happy for the record and the win.

And Harvey Elliott on Salah:

My finish today has summed up what I learned from him. Ever since I came through the door he looked after me. He is a legend.


02:36 PM GMT

Full time Palace 1 Liverpool 2

Roy Hodgson is embraced by Jurgen Klopp and manages a smile but he must be fuming given the game turned on Ayew’s sending off. They were 1-0 up at the time, Liverpool had improved and were knocking after a rubbish first half but couldn’t open the door and then Salah struck to equalise before Elliott won it with a beauty. Palace didn’t deserve to lose but Liverpool’s ability to come from behind is a proper title-winning quality.

Liverpool go top of the Premier League.


02:33 PM GMT

90+12 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2

Liverpool scramble the first cone behind for another and then break from the second but can’t make it into the Palace galf because of fouls by Ward and Ahamada.


02:31 PM GMT

90+10 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2

Palace free-kick for a Lusi Diaz foul on Olise for which he is booked. Wide right, 25 yards out.

He bends it to the far post and Andersen meets it with a downward header, possibly from an offside position, and, Alisson saves at the foot of the right post. That was going in.


02:29 PM GMT

90+8 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2

Andersen clips Luis Diaz across the shin a few seconds after an earlier tangle was allowed to proceed without sanction by the referee.


02:27 PM GMT

90+7 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2

Now it’s Allez, Allez, Allez. The red card and the positive substitutions changed it around for Liverpool, Gakpo has done well on the right, switching with Salah and back again.


02:26 PM GMT

90+5 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2

A neat finish from Luis Diz, played in down the inside right with a cute reverse pass, is chalked off when the flag goes up and VAR corroborates the linesman’s judgment. How much more time will be played for that check?


02:25 PM GMT

90+3 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2

Hodgson is slumped in his seat as Liverpool fans treat their players to a rousing Adeste Fideles ... but in Scouse not Latin.


02:21 PM GMT

GOAL!

Palace 1 Liverpool 2 (Elliott) Brilliant goal. Salah feeds it inside and it looked like it was the beginning of a one-two but Elliott dipped his shoulder, sent Mateta off to buy an Evening Standard, cut inside and fired an unstoppable left-foot shot in at the near post.


02:21 PM GMT

90+1 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1

It is 10 minutes of added time ...


02:20 PM GMT

90 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1

Matthews comes out to claim a cross. Looks assured under the high ball, which is always a relief.


02:19 PM GMT

88 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1

Good start by Matthews, blocking Gomez’s firm cross at the near post after Palace’s 10 men let the right-back through to the byline.

There might be as many as 10 minutes of added time after the Johnstone injury and Var checks.


02:17 PM GMT

Johnstone cannot go on

The 29-year old third keeper Remi Matthews comes on for his Premier League debut.


02:16 PM GMT

The 200 club

Mo Salah is the fifth double centurion for the Red Men.

346 - Ian Rush 
285 - Roger Hunt 
241 - Gordon Hodgson 
228 - Billy Liddell 
200 - Mohamed Salah


02:15 PM GMT

84 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1

Palace substitution: Ahamada ⇢ Schlupp. Lengthy delay whole Johnstone is treated for an injury to his left calf or ankle.


02:12 PM GMT

81 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1

Liverpool need to win to go top and Salah hits Clybe with another shot but this time the ball sails over for a corner.


02:11 PM GMT

79 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1

Hodgson is booked for protesting the sending off. And Darren ‘call me Fletch’ Fletcher is incandescent on Palace’s behalf. No doubt that it has changed the game.


02:07 PM GMT

GOAL!

Palace 1 Liverpool 1 (Salah)  Scores his 200th goal for Liverpool, a shot deflected by Clyne after great work from Gakpo down the right, cutting it back to Salah to strike with his right. Only Billy Liddell, Gordon Hodgson, Roger Hunt and the Everest of Ian Rush lie ahead of him now.

Salah scores
Salah scores his 200th Liverpool goal - ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

02:06 PM GMT

74 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Palace red card: Ayew sent off for a second yellow, a trip on Elliott on halfway, running across his line. Tepid and Hodgson matches Klopp for a look of acute sarcasm.


02:05 PM GMT

73 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Double Liverpool substitution Elliott and Jones replace Nunez and Szoboszlai. Van Dijk and Konate, who came on for Qaunsah, had just thwarted an Olise break.


02:03 PM GMT

71 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Booking for Richards for a ‘tactical’ foul. Alexander-Arnold takes 40 yards out and hangs it up to the far post. Nunez creeps round the back but tries to knock it in with the outside of his right boot instead of meeting it with a left-foot volley, and he knocks it straight out.


02:01 PM GMT

70 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Liverpool corner on the right. Alexander-Arnold takes but Palace hold their positions, mark tightly and give Van Dijk and Konate no chance of getting a clean header away.


01:59 PM GMT

68 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Olise will take the free-kick and he bends it straight down Alisson’s throat.


01:58 PM GMT

66 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Rio Ferdinand points out that Liverpool have taken 15 points from losing positions already this season. After a lengthy delay for treatment, Jefferson Lerma is substituted for Michael Olise.


01:56 PM GMT

63 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Palace fans are giving their song an airing, complete with foot stamping and banging the boards. Yellow card for Lerma. Palace go to 4-1-4-1 pretty quickly as soon as they lose the ball and then go man for man. Liverpool have been as bad as they were for long stretches of their match at Kenilworth Road. Klopp is going to go Tonto about the 12.30pm kick-off if they lose.


01:54 PM GMT

61 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

End to end stuff as first Nunez misses a chance to get on the end of a long ball and then Schlupp scuffs a shot too close to Alisson.


01:50 PM GMT

59 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0

Liverpool sent on Gakpo for Gravenberch before the penalty.

It was definitely a penalty, the only gripe being how long it took and why Madley missed it with the naked eye.


01:48 PM GMT

GOAL!!!

Palace 1-0 Liverpool (Mateta, pen). He gulls Alisson into diving to his right and thumps the ball down the middle. Good pen.


01:47 PM GMT

VAR tells Madley to go to the screen

Quansah definitely boots Mateta, swiping at the man not the ball.

And he awards the penalty to Palace, 90 seconds after the incident.


01:45 PM GMT

57 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Palace penalty shout when Johnstone drives a long diagonal up the left for Hughes to whip into the box and Mateta hits the deck as Quansah clears. The Var check goes on for minutes as play continues.


01:44 PM GMT

54 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Another quick counter from Palace up the left but Clyne and Lerma, who worked the opening well, cannot beat Alisson at the near post.


01:42 PM GMT

52 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Noticeably far more urgency from Liverpool but they are not succeeding yet in drawing Palace out of their shape. One side would be happy with a 0-0, one wouldn’t.


01:41 PM GMT

50 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Better from Liverpool to move the ball forward quickly and giving Luis Diaz an opportunity to shoot, a shot that was so poor that Nunez almost managed to get his head on it and turn it into a cross.


01:38 PM GMT

48 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Sorry if you had a punt on an Endo yellow card ... Makes sense to switch Alexander-Arnold to midfield. Palace free-kick inside the Liverpool half, pumped forward towards Guehi. Liverpool deal with it at the 18-yard line solidly.


01:37 PM GMT

46 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Two changes: Gomez ⇢ Endo and Mateta ⇢ Edouard. Trent A-A moves into midfield and Gomez slots in at right back.


01:23 PM GMT

Half-time Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Palace have defended well and have threatened three or four times on the break. Liverpool have bossed possession but can’t, as yet, blow Palace’s house down. The away side’s midfield trio lack a bit of range with their passes which is why Klopp is bound to want Alexander-Arnold to ping a few more diagonals in the second half to get behind Ward and Clyne. Liverpool, so far, have created no clear cut chance.

Andrew Madley looks at the screen
Andrew Madley rightly rescinds the penalty but took his time doing so - ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

01:20 PM GMT

45+4 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Alexander-Arnold, who has played as more of a right-back than a hybrid midfielder this half, uncharacteristically messes up one of his long passes and the Palace ultras give him a prolonged ‘Oooooooooooooooh, wahaaaaay!’


01:18 PM GMT

45+2 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Excellent block from Hughes, putting his goolies on the line as he jumped into Salah’s shot, deflects the ball out for another corner which, for the sixth or seventh time this half, Palace defend well.


01:17 PM GMT

45 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Luis Diaz injects some momentum with a gorgeous pass off his right towards the D and Gravenberch lays it off to Nunez who, instead of a first-time shot, cuts back inside and loses possession.

Five minutes of stoppage time go up on the board.


01:15 PM GMT

43 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Diligent defending from Schlupp, tracking back, gives Liverpool a corner that comes to naught as there was a shove in the box from Salah, I think.

When they haven’t got the ball, ‘wi’ art ball’ as Paul Heckingbottom has it, the wingers drop deep and Richards drops between the two centre-backs, making it very difficult to break the lines.


01:13 PM GMT

41 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Ward was booked a minute ago for a professional/cynical/tactical foul to thwart a Liverpool counter. Hodgson, more owl-like than ever, is smiling thinly in his technical area.


01:11 PM GMT

39 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Hughes is penalised for another foul on Endo, just catching his heels.


01:10 PM GMT

37 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Richards and Lerma are playing well in midfield, winning the ball and sparking counter-attacks. the latest of which sends Clyne down the left but his cross goes straight to Tsimikas and Liverpool clear. With those two elite terriers playing so well, perhaps Hodgson will give himself more chance to slip Edouard in with Olise for Hughes later on.


01:04 PM GMT

34 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

On Wednesday night Sheff Utd fans sang ‘Premier League, corrupt as f---‘ when James McAtee wasn’t given a penalty against Liverpool and now Palace fans sing ‘F--- VAR’ when their penalty is rescinded.


01:03 PM GMT

No penalty

Hard to disagree. Endo was fouled by Hughes and without it Hughes couldn’t have won the ball. Van Dijk’s yellow card is also voided. Took an age to make a pretty straightforward call, though.

Van Dijk fouls Edouard
Van Dijk trips Edouard but the 'penalty' was overturned after a Var review - REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

01:02 PM GMT

Ridiculous delay while we wait for the referee

Three minutes now. He watched it in slo-mo a couple of times but now wants to see it a full speed.


01:01 PM GMT

The evidence of Hughes' foul is pretty clear cut

And the referee goes to the screen, Hughes hooked his leg around from behind and kicked him on the shin.


01:00 PM GMT

Palace penalty?!

Var check for a Virgil van Dijk foul. Liverpool say that Hughes fouled Endo from behind to win the ball back to play it up to Edouard.


12:59 PM GMT

27 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Superb save from Alisson after Richards wins the ball in midfield and feeds Ayew down the right. This time his cross is perfect and Lerma meets it 10 yards out beyond the back post and thunders a low shot inside the near post and Alisson dives to his right to block and then the ball spins wildly towards the line and Alexander-Arnold scrambles it away.


12:56 PM GMT

25 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Palace free-kick on halfway as the niggly fouls from Gravenberch and Endo start to mount. Ward chips it long into the box and Szoboszlai heads it clear.


12:55 PM GMT

23 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Tsimikas is penalised for a foul on Ayew and Palace work the free-kick into the left corner to win a corner. The cross is looped towards the penalty spot and Andersen, well-marked, can only head it up, far more vertical direction than horizontal and Liverpool clear, looking for Luis Diaz on a one-man break, but the pass is held up by the wind.


12:53 PM GMT

20 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Palace win the ball in the inside-left channel and Edouard then opens his body to play it out to Ayew on the right before bombing forward into the box. But Ayew’s cross is behind both Edourad and Schlupp and Liverpool deal with it easily to begin another long phase of controlled possession.

Jordan Ayew of Crystal Palace in action against Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool
Ryan Gravenberch tangles with Jordan Ayew - DANIEL HAMBURY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

12:50 PM GMT

18 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Clyne reads Szoboszlai’s sliding pass down the right well to cut out the ball to Salah. Palace’s defence is well organised and drilled. Liverpool are going to need a lock-picker or blow the b------ doors off with sustained pressure.


12:47 PM GMT

16 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Ayew and Edouard throw themselves courageously in the way of Gravenberch’s shot from the corner and Palace win a free-kick out on the left as Liverpool tried to retrieve the ball.


12:46 PM GMT

14 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

A big, orange think suddenly appears in the sky. What could it be? Utterly unfamiliar visitor over this horribly bleak and wet autumn/winter.

Good defensive header from Ward at the back-post, the deflection on Alexander-Arnold’s cross giving him the opportunity to nip ahead of him.


12:44 PM GMT

13 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Edouard’s tenacity on the right by the byline earns them a corner on the other side from his deep cross. Palace ask for a penalty for a Quansah hand-ball from the corner but it was no such thing and Liverpool break like a swarm of wasps, Ward doing well to slow Salah down successfully until reinforcements arrive to stop the thrust of the attack.

Luis Diaz
Luis Diaz tells Trent Alexander-Arnold to hit diagonal behind Joel Ward - REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

12:40 PM GMT

10 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Lerma wins the ball in a tackle but Schlupp dawdles on it and cuts back into a congested midfield and Alexander-Arnold robs him to give Salah a chance to stretch his legs. Nothing comes of it, though. Then Palace are cut apart by three slick passes around the box … but Salah was offside when the ball fell to him on the right of the box.


12:38 PM GMT

8 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

It’s blowing a gale to add to the difficulty and from a free-kick just inside the Liverpool half, they knock one into the wind that swirls as it drops erratically in the box. Liverpool clear.


12:37 PM GMT

6 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Lots of ball for Liverpool down the left so far, running at Ward rather than their former team-mate out of position at left-back. S far Andersen and Ward have coped well with Tsimikas and Luis Diaz.


12:35 PM GMT

4 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Hughes tackles Endo in the centre-circle and tries to slide Edouard in behind with a straight pass between the centre-backs but Edouard didn’t have the acceleration to get there. Poor pass, in truth.


12:33 PM GMT

3 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Tsimikas sets himself for a shot when the ball breaks to him 25 yards out from a block tackle. He hits it with the front of his laces and slices across it.


12:32 PM GMT

1 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0

Liverpool work the ball back to Alisson after Palace go long from the kick-off. Pretty clear, as the estimable Lucy Ward says, that they will stick to their ‘vertical’ strategy today, targeting Edouard to give Quansah and Van Dijk a rough-housing, if he can.


12:27 PM GMT

The rain is covering the lenses of the pitchside cameras

As the teams walk out of the tunnel in the corner. Palace in red and blue, Liverpool in their Bristol Rovers green and white tribute third kit.


12:24 PM GMT

Alisson is back in goal

Alisson warms up
Alisson returns after missing the last two league victories - REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

12:14 PM GMT

Blogger's tip

If you are having a wager ... Endo always looks nailed on for a yellow card.


12:13 PM GMT

A Palace fan is vox popped and asked what he wants

‘A new manager, new ideas and someone who believes in youth.’


12:10 PM GMT

The caretaker dilemma

Good afternoon. Bagchi here. Thanks to Pippa Field for starting the blog. Steve Parish is said to remain supportive of Roy Hodgson but I wonder if he may also feel that he has fallen for successful caretaker syndrome and given the job to, yes, a known and trusted coach yet someone who, at his age, was ideal for the caretaker role of galvanising them before a relegation fight and not suited to this task – satisfying supporters who are crying out for entertainment to match their passion. Even the best caretakers – Tony Parkes, Tony Barton, Roberto Di Matteo – fall apart when give the reins of a remodelling job.

I hear some pundits telling Palace fans to be careful of what they wish for … nuts, to that. A thin gruel of survival is ultimately enervating. Give them something to believe in. Give them goals and flair and buzz and ambition and optimism. And don’t drop Michael Olise for a start or get ratty about supporters being spoiled.


11:52 AM GMT

Team news

Roy Hodgson opts for just two changes from the midweek defeat by Bournemouth. Will Hughes gets the nod ahead of Michael Olise while former Liverpool right-back Nathanial Clyne comes in for Tyrick Mitchell.

As for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp switches things up with five changes. Alisson returns in goal with Jarrel Quansah and Kostas Tsimikas coming into defence. Alexis Mac Allister misses out through injury, with his place taken by Ryan Gravenberch. And Darwin Nunez gets the nod in place of Cody Gakpo.

Alisson returns in goal after recovering from a hamstring injury
Alisson returns in goal after recovering from a hamstring injury - Andrew Powell/Getty Images

11:47 AM GMT

Teams in black and white

Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Ward, Lerma, Richards, Hughes, Ayew, Edouard, Schlupp. 
Subs: Tomkins, Olise, Matheus Franca, Mateta, Ebiowei, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Ozoh.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Endo, Gravenberch, Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Subs: Gomez, Konate, Jones, Gakpo, Elliott, Doak, McConnell, Kelleher, Bradley.

Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire)


11:45 AM GMT

Liverpool to go top?

Having a bet on today’s match? First take a look at these free bets and betting offers.


11:42 AM GMT

Pressure on Hodgson

It’s Crystal Palace vs Liverpool to kick off the Premier League weekend with Jurgen Klopp’s team knowing victory at Selhurst Park would send them top of the table, for a few hours at least.

Roy Hodgson will be in the dugout against his former club but pressure is building on his position, with the midweek defeat against Bournemouth putting him under added scrutiny. That was Palace’s third consecutive loss at home, with their last victory on their own patch being a 3-2 win over Wolves at the start of September.

Hodgson, who steered Palace away from relegation trouble last season, has since said he regrets calling supporters ‘spoiled’ after they jeered his players off in midweek.

“I am distressed by my comments and choice of word, which I bitterly regret,” he said. “I would be devastated if they didn’t think I appreciated them. I can understand their frustration so I owe them an apology because they’ve been so good to me during my five years at the club.

“Everyone came to the game thinking we’d get some points on the board, so to have that hope taken away by a combination of things is hard. We didn’t play nearly as close as we wanted to do, but it’s gone now and we have to get over it.”

It does not bode well for Hodgson’s team this lunchtime, however, with Crystal Palace winless in their 12 Premier League matches against Liverpool, losing 10, since a 2-1 victory at Anfield in April 2017. Their most recent top-flight home victory in this fixture came all the way back in November 2014.

Some early teams news for Liverpool fans too - Alisson is back in goal after missing the last three games through a hamstring injury. Alexis Mac Allister is not involved after picking up an injury in midweek.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.