Ruthless, Dominant, Hungry: Crystal Palace vs Liverpool 0-7

The boys recently came off at the back of a crucial top of the table match against Tottenham Hotspurs as victors. Just barely 62 hours later, we have an early match on a Saturday, but the Reds  in their groovy third kit kept the momentum up with a masterclass display of dominance.

In this show of relentless attacking, Liverpool came off with an all time away record win of 7-0 in the premier league and the first time the team won by a 7 goal margin. And in this game, 3 of the forwards found their hold and 2 of them finally broke the duck.

Liverpool
Takumi Minamino - 3", assisted by Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane - 36", assisted by Bobby Firmino
Bobby Firmino - 45", assisted by Andrew Robertson
Jordan Henderson - 50" assisted by Trent Alexander Arnold
Bobby Firmino - 59" assisted by Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah - 80" assisted by Joel Matip
Mohamed Salah - 84" assisted by Alex Oxlade Chamberlain

It was a massive team game, with a grand total of 9 different players contributing to goals that led to this massive route. And to be honest, it's not that we are just that good, Palace were simply awful which alone attributed to this humiliation.

PLAYER RATINGS

Alisson Becker - 7, had relatively little to do in goal apart from a couple of routines and that patch of time during the 1st half when Crystal Palace seemingly had the better spell of the game. 

Trent Alexander Arnold - 9, assisted a goal for Henderson and later initiated with the corner that led to Matip and Salah's involvement in the 6th Goal.

Joel Matip - 8 Imperious and he himself had an assist following a corner from Alexander Arnold. Paired well with Fabinho once again. But really defensively there was nothing that he really needed to do as Palace simply gave up after Henderson's goal.

Fabinho - 8 Along with Matip, had really nothing much to do. However he nearly gifted a goal from Zaha to Ayew. He did get away with it though. 

Robertson - 8. Launched an awesome counter attack, classic Liverpool style that led to him assisting for Firmino's 1st goal. As many assists as Kevin De Bruyne since the start of 18/19. And for crying out loud, he's only a left back!

Jordan Henderson - 10. A Captain's performance and really dictated the whole match in terms of his tempo. And oh my goodness, that goal was a thing of a beauty, again outside the 18 yard box. Always the one barking orders, like a true reflection of Jurgen Klopp himself. No one really gives Hendo the credit he actually deserves and to be honest, it took me a long time to warm up to Henderson's work rate. And since the start of 18/19 season, he has been putting good shifts in. 

Gini Wijnaldum - 7. One of the quieter performers since most of the work was done by Henderson. Then again he had been playing so relentlessly for weeks straight, so 20 minutes before full time was given a needed break.

Naby Keita - 8. Nice to see him back in the squad and being the secondary engine with Henderson.  Still finding his rhythm  but according to stats he did win 100% of his tackles and duels in this game. Definitely needs more game time if he needs to get match fit again after being out for so long.

Takumi Minamino - 9. Started ahead of Salah and he was a constant menace and set up the Reds atmosphere with a VERY early goal. Happy for the guy, it is his first Premier League goal. Been excellent all game.

Bobby Firmino - 10. In red hot form, carrying on his momentum from the Tottenham game where he scored the injury time header, he was a monster again creating all sorts of problems for the Palace defense. 2 Goals and 1 assist is a good day in the office for him. If he hadn't been subbed he could have tried for a Hat Trick. But Bobby's not complaining, compared to...

Sadio Mane - 9. Yeah, this guy. I can understand he is always hungry, maybe abit too hungry. That explains why he was abit upset when he got subbed. However doesn't take away the gloss that he also put up a good show with 1 goal and 1 assist. And a timely manner to break his goal scoring draught thanks to stupid VAR calls.

SUBSTITUTES

Mohamed Salah - 9. Guy is just not stopping eh? He achieved the same amount of goal contributions as Firmino in a shorter amount of time, also a brace and 1 assist. And of all goals that he put in, 1 header from another header, and a 2nd beautiful curler in the same manner he did that against Chelsea a couple seasons ago. To be honest, Salah didn't need to come in, but ah well, some game time is also good for his confidence.

Alex Oxlade Chamberlain - 8.  Another one to make his comeback from Injury. And even in his brief cameo, he notched an assist to Salah's jaw dropping goal.

Curtis Jones - 6 Came in place of Gini Wijnaldum, didn't really have anything to do except to allow Gini to have a break.

NEXT GAME:

West Bromwich Albion
Venue: Anfield
Time: 27th December 4.30pm GMT, 1230am SGT

This may be a tricky fixture as this is Sam Alladyce's first game as WBA's head coach. And Klopp knows all too well, and mentioned that any team with Big Sam will be a challenging match.

Champions League MD5: Liverpool 1 - Ajax 0 - The kids are alright ya? But INJURIES I WANT IT BANNED!!!!

First off, the injuries.... my fucking God when is it gonna end?? Because now we have this whole bloody  chunk away on the stupid treatment table. I really want to ban injuries already for good.

Alisson (New Injury to Hamstring)
Trent Alexander Arnold
Van Dijk (ACL wrecked by the damn Pickford, I hope he dies, like seriously)
Joe Gomez (Injured in International training which is VERY dumb)
Thiago Alcantara (STILL NO RETURN IN SIGHT WTF!? Richarlison is another one I want dead!)
Keita (Seriously)
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (When the hell is he returning??)
James Milner (Hamstring)

Really, enough is enough of injuries,  I've had it, I'm banning them.

That said which means our choices remain extremely limited in our squad. And our bench is filled with youngsters.

But speaking of youngsters....the 3 kids are alright no? And the new defense in yet another formation was pretty solid, without a shadow of a doubt. Secured the win, and qualified for the last 16 with one game to spare, the game that they can afford to take a breather regardless of what happens there.

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CAOIHMIN KELLEHER - 9 (King of the Match)

Picked ahead of usual 2nd Choice and tossed right in the deep end. But surprisingly, the Irishman Kelleher was absolutely immense, and commanding his line standing his ground as he made save after save against waves of attacks from Ajax. He made a few crucial denials including a really critical point blank header at the dying stages of the game. He gets a 9 for conducting this masterclass and the King of the Match. Talk about a heck of a Champions League Debut.

NECO WILLIAMS - 7

To be frank, I've never liked Neco Williams as his defending can be extremely clumsy and he lacks the delivery rates that Trent Alexander Arnold have. He still has his nervy moments until that beautiful cross over the Ajax Goalie Onana, catching him off guard, leaving Curtis Jones to slam the ball home. His first assist in a Liverpool shirt, and in the UCL. Still I won't let him off just yet, because his performances most of the time prior to this was extremely alarming and the weak point in the right hand  side. I understand he is young, but until Trent comes back, he needs to get good, and VERY fast and consistently.

JOEL MATIP AND FABINHO - 8

Marshalled the back line well with the rest of the back 5 and the new keeper. Kept the forward line of Ajax quiet. Both partner very well and Fabinho is slowly making the Center Back Role his own which was partially why Ajax's finishing has been made rather sloppy.

ROBERTSON - 8

Had a slight injury worry in the first half but soldiered on and really committed to his left side while fucked off the injury.

CURTIS JONES - 9

Narrowly missed the King of the Match but he was the brightest spark of all the outfield players. Missed his first effort which was unlucky but later caught the opening when Neco sent the cross over Onana and broke the deadlock. First UCL Goal for the scouser! An excellent day in the office for him. 

JORDAN HENDERSON - 8

The pace setter and the metronome, put up a typical captain's performance.

OUR FORWARDS MO 7, JO 6, SADIO - 6

Gotta give it to Ajax for keeping these 3 quiet. Mo Salah tried and was causing problems and was the most threatening of the lot, the other 2 less so.

At least now we can rest players for the Midtjylland fixture, which is pretty now redundant having won Group D and qualification was never in doubt even if we lose there.

NEXT 3 FIXTURES

LIVERPOOL VS WOLVES
06 DEC 715pm GMT
07 DEC 315am SGT

MIDTJAYLLAND vs LIVERPOOL
10 DEC 155AM SGT

FULHAM VS LIVERPOOL
13 DEC 430PM GMT
14 DEC 1230MN SGT

And good, now we have 5 days of rest as the hardest match of the 3 will be Wolves. Even with a heavy injury to their best forward Raul Jiminez, we still can't discount the fact that Nuno still is doing wonders to the squad. Following that with the MD6 of UCL which we can afford to bring a fringe side to allow our players a break before Fulham and later Tottenham. By then we should see Trent as well as Alisson and perhaps Milner against Fulham at the very latest.