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“What’s going to happen? Am I excited?” emails Matt Dony. “I mean, based on much of the season so far, Liverpool are going to be disappointing. And no, I am not excited. Still, they probably won’t be worse than Wales’ 6 Nations campaign so far …”
10 min: Judging by the first 10 minutes, I reckon I could probably take a quick nap and not miss much. But I know you’re out there, dear readers, so I will press on. Now Salah hits a shot wide from an angle for Liverpool! Close … no, close-ish. Never really looked a threatening effort, but at least it was an effort.
8 min: Gakpo is fouled, it looks like, by Guehi on the edge of the box, again with banks of Palace defenders in close attendance. The referee appears to play an advantage. There is no advantage gained, and as the co-commentator says, Liverpool would have taken a free-kick there.
6 min: Liverpool stroke the ball around at the back. They soon move into the Palace half and Jota has a sniff of a chance, from distance, when the ball flicks off his marker. But Palace are in position to repel the danger again.
4 min: Mateta chases a hopeful ball into a channel for the home team. Nothing doing. Palace are set up to defend, first and foremost, it seems fair to say. It’s a bit of a flat start from both sides. The crowd is making plenty of noise, though.
2 min: Liverpool win a throw on their right wing, deep in Palace territory. Alexander-Arnold waits for a while, so long in fact that the Palace players start to complain about the delay. He lobs it for Salah, who makes a run into the box, but Palace clear their lines.
First half kick-off!
Here. We. Go.
Here we go then. The teams are out on the pitch. Jordan Ayew has a final sip of his drink, and runs out on to the pitch, high-fiving and low-fiving his teammates as he goes.
Erling Haaland … he’s done it again!
Kick off in sunny Norwood is just five minutes away. What is going to happen? Are you excited? Email me or tweet, via the links above.
For Mikel Arteta, read Baxter Basics:
Patrick Vieira is asked about … yes! You guessed it, Wilfried Zaha, who is still absent injured: “Hamstring issues, you want to be 100% sure, you don’t want to take any risk, the best decision was to give him another week and train with the team.
“The results are what they are … we need to perform at a better level, for 95 minutes, with a better concentration, and try to turn things around … at times we were unlucky not to take three points but we have work to do to win those games.”
Klopp is asked about his changes. Based on form, or freshness? “It was about freshness. We need fresh legs, that was clear … again, a week with three games coming up, you cannot “force them through”, and we don’t have to.
“Very important [to build on the good bits from Tuesday] … we need the same desire and excitement as before the Madrid game … people told me we had a good 20 minutes, but the whole first half was good … anyway, that’s it, in general I would say the last three games show we are going in the right direction and we need to build on that.”
No surprise to see Joe Gomez left out by Klopp tonight. He had a torrid time against Real Madrid. I saw the theory expounded that Gomez has often been left exposed by the marauding Trent Alexander-Arnold but I am not sure that applied on Tuesday.
Reports and roundups from today, if you missed anything– including West Ham’s 4-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa’s 2-0 win at Everton:
City seal that 4-1 win, and there are two points in it at the top
Which all means – unless Bournemouth score three goals in stoppage time – that Arsenal top the table by two points from City:
Earlier today, “The Arsenal” won 1-0 away at Leicester, thanks to a goal scored by Gabriel Martinelli.
Manchester City are handing out a drubbing to Bournemouth right now – they are 4-1 up inside the final five minutes. Four goals must surely amount to a statement of intent. Scott Murray has the story:
Teams
Patrick Vieira names an unchanged side from last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Brentford, when the Eagles were denied victory in stoppage time.
The injured winger Wilfried Zaha remains out while Arsenal loanee Sambi Lokonga will make his second start for the club. Joel Ward, back from injury, is on the bench.
Jürgen Klopp makes four changes from the Liverpool side that lost 5-2 to Real Madrid, with Diogo Jota replacing Darwin Nunez.
Joe Gomez is not in the squad after a very, very difficult evening against Real, while Naby Keita, Joel Matip and James Milner return to the starting XI. Fabinho and Stefan Bajcetic are among the substitutes.
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Doucoure, Lokonga, Schlupp, Olise, Mateta, Ayew.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Milner, Keita, Jota, Salah, Gakpo.
Preamble
“It’s not so important what they think when you come in,” Jürgen Klopp once said. “It’s much more important what people think when you leave.” He shared that wisdom on becoming Liverpool manager in 2015.
If that sounds like an introduction to a premature eulogy for Klopp’s Anfield tenure, it is not intended as such. But the end has surely never seemed closer than last Tuesday night on Merseyside, when Klopp’s team were torn apart, outclassed and outplayed by the European champions Real Madrid.
Perhaps that painful humiliation will galvanise Klopp; perhaps it will feed his motivation to renew the squad, to reset collective goals and restore things to the levels of 2019 and 2020. Or maybe, when all is said and done, it will be recognised as the most significant milestone on a gradual descent.
We will know a little more in a few hours, after Liverpool have attempted to find a way past Patrick Vieira’s progressive, skilful yet under-performing (or certainly under-resulting) side in south east London. Vieira and his players may sense an opportunity to capitalise on any potential hesitancy or tension in the visiting ranks after their sobering experience a few days ago.
“I don’t compare myself with these genius managers from the past,” Klopp also said in 2015, referring to Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish. “None of these great managers said in his first press conference: ‘My target is I want to be a legend.’”
Regardless, legendary status has been achieved. Klopp’s status is secure, his bond with Liverpool fans unbreakable. But where do they go from here?
Kick-off: 7.45pm
English (US)