Liverpool maintained their strong start to the season with a 2-0 victory away in Selhurst Park. As with most of their encounters in this ground, it was a difficult game especially against Crystal Palace. Of course a win is the result needed but despite it, Klopp was not too happy with it and he knew for a fact there's far more room to improve. The defenses did hold up well with Alisson and Van Dijk leading the scores today. More could be done, which we hope to see in our next fixture which will be:
HOME against Brighton and Hove on the 25th August, the side you guessed it, that created an upset by absolutely steamrolling Manchester United during the 1st half in a thrilling 3-2 victory. Apart from the very last penalty that gave Manchester the 2nd goal, it was otherwise a very comfortable result that Brighton would be happy with.
But let's get down to the player ratings first:
Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker - 8.5
He was given a much bigger test against a club with a difficult ground to play on. He was tested quite fairly and made a heck of a save from a free-kick set piece. His distribution was good; rather than playing high passes that most keepers do, he knows how to judge and play passing football as if he was an 11th outfield player. Although significantly harder match compared to West Ham, he was rarely in trouble.
Right Back: Trent Alexander-Arnold - 7.0
Didn't really go forward as strongly but did not really put a foot wrong either. He kept Zaha quiet which could otherwise spell disaster from the talented Winger. Gradually grew into the game as time went on.
Center Back: Joe Gomez - 8.0
Getting increasingly assured when partnered with Van Dijk. Benteke or Zaha? Not a problem for the young Joe. This will give Klopp a selection headache because Joe is definitely good enough as a drop in replacement for Dejan Lovren and completely eclipsing Joel Matip.
Center Back: Virgil Van Dijk - 9.0
Cool as you like it, easy as you like it. That's our confident Virgil that Southampton failed to get the most out of. Crystal Palace simply could not find an answer to the formidable Dutchman. Hope he stays consistent like this to make his 75 Million Pound price tag worth it.
Left Back: Andy Robertson - 7.5
Typical Andy Robertson that doesn't need that much mentioning. Next!
Midfielder: Naby Keita - 8.0
Showing his class again with his own engine, Keita once again proved why it was worth the wait. Providing the tempo for the left side of the squad and running riot with Robertson and Mane. The left sided synergy seems to start maturing now.
Midfielder: Gini Wijnaldum - 7.5
Growing increasingly reliable as a Number 6, giving Klopp a potential selection headache as he can depend on 3 capable number 6s of Gini, Fabinho and Henderson. Given how he has been playing though, I highly doubt Klopp will swap him out for the future match against Brighton.
Midfielder: James Milner - 8.0
His game was significantly quieter for him but he deserves a bit of an extra point for his coolly slotted penalty. This also gives him a record, of not losing in 48 matches since he scored and lost a game after. A definitely worthy achievement.
Striker: Mohamed Salah - 8.0
Not the best game he has had but he definitely caused so many problems for Crystal Palace's defense. He should have gotten a few goals off I feel, and make the scoreline much more comfortable. However he was still instrumental and contributed to both goals, winning the penalty for Milner and provided the lightning breakthrough to assist for Mane's closing goal and causing Crystal Palace to go down to 10-man in the process. Not a pretty indirect way to cause this kind of havoc but that's good enough for me and I'm sure fellow Reds wouldn't mind.
Striker: Sadio Mane - 8.5
Mane has been in sizzling form and just keeps improving. If Salah can't do it, Mane will. He has simply been brilliant, with a good scoring run of 14 in 18 matches with Liverpool. Could be an outside chance that this season's Golden Boot would be Sadio's to take.
Center Forward: Roberto Firmino - 7.0
As to why how come Firmino hasn't blossomed yet this season is still beyond me. He'll definitely want to up his game later on. However he did control the flow up front more like an Attacking Midfielder which was enough to cause problems.
How my Lineup against Brighton predicted:
Alisson Becker
Trent, Joe Gomez, Virgil, Andy Robertson
Fabinho, Keita, Wijnaldum
Salah, Firmino and Mane
I seriously doubt, with the exception of Milner and maybe Firmino, that Klopp would make any significant tweaks to the line-up against Brighton. However that said, the side because of scraping goals at the tail end of each half, they need to show far more anger against a side that made quick work against Manchester United earlier. This game could be a true test for the back 4 as Brighton are flying high with confidence after the comfortable win.
Bench-wise, Mignolet after the releasing Karius on loan will be back there. The Belgian could very well redeem himself over the course of the season. Other than this change the rest of the bench should stay the same.
Head to head, Brighton had not defeated Liverpool since 1984 FA Cup. Although the Reds have defeated them very heavily in their last 4 encounters, they still better ensure their defences are locked tight and not be overly complacent.
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