Crystal Palace, who survived relegation to the Championship last season after Roy Hodgson took over, welcomed Liverpool at Selhurst Park for their second game of the season. Palace had not won at home against the Reds in three encounters but went into the game looking for a fourth home top-flight victory in a row for the first time since 1990.
Crystal Palace Ratings
In a tense match, Crystal Palace ended up losing the match 2-0 having suffered for long periods of the game, but gave themselves a chance to salvage a point with the score only 1-0 heading into added time. They showed promise at the start, but ultimately were second best and made it difficult for themselves once they were down to ten men.
Wayne Hennessey – 7
Could do nothing about the goals but responded well to the constant pressure and reassured his backline with some good saves. Dominated his box, caught everything that came his way, and reacted quickly when called upon.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 6
Was Palace’s best player before getting sent off. Eager to get forward and join attacks, he was also reliable in defence and drew applause from the fans with several strong tackles. However, his inexperience was cruelly exposed when he brought down Salah on the edge of the box and was sent off, making it mission impossible for his team to find a way back into the match.
James Tomkins – 7
Didn’t really put a foot wrong and dealt with Liverpool’s frightful attack well. However, he was unable to trouble the Reds’ defence at set-pieces having scored some crucial goals last season.
Mamadou Sakho – 4
The ex-Liverpool defender had a nightmare against his old teammates. Lost the ball sloppily multiple times in the first half which put his team under pressure, and was extremely clumsy to give away a penalty right before half-time. A game to forget for the Frenchman.
Patrick Van Aanholt – 6
The athletic full-back wasn’t greatly involved in the game. A few dangerous runs early on looked to unsettle the Liverpool backline but failed to make a difference in the final third. Managed to contain most of the attacks on his side of the field.
Luka Milivojevic – 7
Calm in possession but, along with McArthur, lacked the pace to keep up with Keita and Mane. Came close to an equaliser when his sweetly-struck free-kick, headed for the top corner, was well saved by Alisson.
James McArthur – 6
Industrious in midfield but was not able to join attacks as much as he would have wanted and was pegged back for much of the game as a result of Liverpool’s dominance in possession.
Andros Townsend – 6
Worked tirelessly for the Eagles but wasn’t involved enough when they had the ball and overplayed at times. Nearly scored a screamer with a curling effort which cannoned off the crossbar following a rare Naby Keita mistake.
Jeffrey Schlupp – 6
Another player who had impressed last weekend, scoring Crystal Palace’s first goal of the season, but who couldn’t keep up with the tempo of the match. Some of his choices in promising positions were questionable, such as taking a long-distance shot when there were better passing options, highlight he is not a natural winger.
Wilfried Zaha – 7
Did not receive the delivery to be able to make a difference on the game, but showed glimpses of his clear talent and was the biggest threat to the Liverpool backline. Was quick and powerful on the ball and led all of Palace’s attacks as they searched for an equaliser.
Christian Benteke – 4
Another player who faced his old side, and just like Sakho, he had another unconvincing performance and showed why he got so much stick last term. Slow and sluggish, he was beaten too easily in the air by the impeccable van Dijk, and his first touch let him down several times. His outing was summed up when he attempted to find the target but sent the ball to the corner flag.
Substitutes
Alexander Sorloth – 5
The youngster was sent on to replace Benteke and help find an equaliser, however, was a passenger. Did not make any runs forward, and although it was impossible to do worse than his fellow striking partner, it is fair to say he wasn’t much better either.
Joel Ward – 6
Sent on to occupy the vacant right-back spot following the sending-off, Ward was was solid enough but didn’t make a significant impact on the match.
Max Meyer – 5
The highly-rated German came on for his debut in the final minutes but hardly touched the ball.
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