Examining Further Into Liverpool’s Disappointing Crystal Palace Loss

We examine more closely at the implications of Liverpool’s first-ever home Premier League defeat for the Reds.

Even though they had to adjust to a brand-new midfield this summer and deal with injury after injury to elite players, Liverpool has found enough magic moments this season to unexpectedly be in the running for the championship. This week, the Reds appeared to run out of magic spells as they lost their first two home games of the season in the Europa League to Atalanta before putting on yet another terrible show against Crystal Palace.

Below, we examine a few winners and losers from the evening and make an effort to separate fact from fiction.

Winners

Remember the 97

You won’t ever be by yourself; you’ll never be far from our hearts.

Andy Robertson

In an attempt to prevent Palace from taking a 2-0 lead, the Scottish left back demonstrated his hustle by racing back to clear a ball that had halfway crossed the line. In the future, he was also among the most reliable players, producing four crucial passes.

Alisson

When the Brazilian goalie returned from injury, he was enormous in net. He prevented Crystal Palace from taking an even larger lead by making a number of point blank saves, giving Liverpool at least a chance to rally.

Losers

The Magic of Anfield

Liverpool lost a game at Anfield this season for the first time in the Premier League. Actually, the Reds’ lone other home loss of the season came against Atalanta earlier in the week. Liverpool had always seemed to find that spark of brilliance at Anfield when it was needed this season, despite all of the injuries, but it was missing today.

Woodworking

After a wild scramble from a corner kick, Endo struck the crossbar. This season, Liverpool’s chances of scoring have been thwarted by the woodwork 21 times. In that statistic, the Reds presently lead the Premier League by a significant margin.

Wataru Endo

The Japanese holding midfielder has been a key member of the team’s success this year, but against Crystal Palace, he appeared incredibly slow and lanky right away. At the interval, he was dragged off.

Konaté Ibrahima

It was not one of the French defender’s better games. He occasionally had trouble keeping Mateta and Eze within his defensive circle. He appeared to be among the players who found it most difficult to deal with the Crystal Palace press as well. In addition, Konaté performed rather poorly on the ball and appeared to have trouble making decisions.

Players from Liverpool Shooting

The Reds have been awful in front of goal lately on all fronts. Even though Dean Henderson made a couple of point blank saves (whether he was aware of them or not), Liverpool’s finishing once again fell short of expectations. Given how many opportunities there were that were missed, it is difficult to place blame on a single player.

2.87 – Liverpool’s xG total v Crystal Palace was 2.87 – their most on record (since 2010-11) in a Premier League match in which they did not score. Indeed, it was the most xG without scoring by any side in the competition since Brighton v Norwich in April 2022 (2.87). Wasteful. pic.twitter.com/bbmPLybUm0

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 14, 2024

Analysing the Story in Detail

The story about Liverpool appearing to be in it all the way to win the Premier League and Europa League has been put on life support throughout the course of the past week. Turn the script with two real losses to Atalanta and Crystal Palace after a draw that felt like a loss to Manchester United. It’s been an emotional roller coaster in such a short amount of time, especially considering this is Jürgen Klopp’s final ride.

Even though this will and should hurt, it’s important to remember how amazing this season has been overall. Following a dismal campaign in the previous year and the unexpected exit of several experienced midfield players, Liverpool seemed unlikely to make significant progress for a few more years. It became increasingly less likely that the Reds would be able to stay up across several competitions as important players continued to suffer injuries. In spite of this, Klopp’s team still has some hope as we approach the middle of April. Even if this week’s results have been disappointing, it has been an outstanding feat.

What Follows

On Thursday, Liverpool will travel to Bergamo hoping for a miracle—or at the very least, to try and turn the present trajectory around. In the Europa League quarterfinals, the Reds will attempt to overcome a three goal deficit.