Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp realized his team had not performed satisfactorily at Crystal Palace’s headquarters but was delighted to be able to end the game with victory.
Liverpool successfully defeated Palace 2-0 with goals from James Milner and Sadio Mane. The victory made Liverpool one of six teams that achieved perfect results in the first two weeks of the Premier League. Not only that, Liverpool are the only team that has not conceded in the English League.
Despite winning, Klopp realized Liverpool were not in their best form at Selhurst Park.
“Today we did not show a brilliant football game and we cannot enlarge this victory. We won because we were able to score in two very decisive moments.”
“But it’s also good. This is a big step because if you see us more often, we usually lose when we don’t look brilliant. Today we are not brilliant but able to win. This is good and an experience that I rarely get,” Klopp was quoted as saying from the club’s official website.
Klopp detailed the attacking line that played less than the expectations he wanted.
“In terms of defense it is certainly very good but I am not too happy with the way we play when attacking. The rhythm and placement of players are not good.”
“Both full backs must be more involved in attacks and open space. Thus we have different options when attacking.
Liverpool’s two goals were created each at the end of each round. Milner scored through the spot in the first half and it sparked controversy. His own penalty came after Mamadou Sakho was deemed to have violated Mohamed Salah.
“I can’t say much about that but certainly Milner scored in the best time in the first half, so did Mane,” said Klopp.
The victory makes Liverpool stick to Manchester City in the standings. Both teams have collected six points from two matches but Man City are on goal difference, 8-1 versus 6-0 courtesy of Liverpool.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool player composition:
Crystal Palace (4-4-2): 13-Wayne Hennessey; 29-Aaron-Wan Bissaka, 5-James Tomkins, 12-Mamadou Sakho, 3-Patrick van Aanholt; 18-James McArthur, 4-Luka Milivojevic, 15-Jeffrey Schlupp, 10-Andros Townsend (2-Joel Ward 83 ‘); 17-Christian Benteke (9-Alexander Sorloth 70 ‘), 11-Wilfried Zaha (7-Max Meyer 83’)
Coach: Roy Hudgson
Liverpool (4-3-3): 13-Alisson, 4-Virgil van Dijk, 12-Joe Gomez, 26-Andrew Robertson, 66-Trent Alexander-Arnold, 7-James Milner (14-Jordan Henderson 67 ‘), 5 -Giorginio Wijnaldum, 8-Naby Keita (20-Adam Lallana 87 ‘); 9-Roberto Firmino, 11-Mohamed Salah, 10-Sadio Mane
Coach: Juergen Klopp
