Liverpool and Crystal Palace battled to an uninspired goalless draw at Selhurst Park in South London. The good news for the Reds is that they are undefeated in their last 3 Premier League games. They also were able to stabilise the defence after letting in 5 goals against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
The bad news is, Liverpool looked fairly uninspired, at least offensively, for large portions of the match. Liverpool's best chances came in the first half. And despite some offensively-minded substitutions by Jürgen Klopp in the second half, the Reds just couldn't find the back of the net.
Liverpool do manage to leapfrog Brighton, in the Premier League table, for the time being with their 36th point. The Reds now find themselves in 7th place in the Premier League. It is Crystal Palace's 5th draw in their last 6 games. The home team clearly relished earning a point against a team that give them fits.
First Half
It was a mostly soulless and quite boring first 40 minutes for both teams. Liverpool were playing a style that put the emphasis on defence, even though Crystal Palace were allowing the Reds to have an overwhelming amount of possession.
Liverpool did have a few nice chances, including a Trent Alexander-Arnold free kick near the half-hour mark. Unfortunately, Jordan Henderson got it in the way and blocked the shot as if he were a part of the Palace defence.
Mohamed Salah had the Reds' 2 best opportunities to score in the half. One in the 11th minute that was sent wide, another on a semi-break near the end of the half that he shot right at Crystal Palace goalkeeper, Vincente Guaita.
Crystal Palace grew into the match near the end of the first half and the game became more lively from that point on. Naby Keita almost added to Liverpool's woes by nearly deflecting a Palace cross into his own net in the 40th minute. The Reds looked unsure of themselves a handful of times handling the ball in the defensive third.
Jean-Philippe Mateta had the game's best chance in the first half for Crystal Palace. The French striker skimmed the ball off the crossbar in the 42nd minute. It was scoreless going into the break, with Liverpool looking pretty toothless in the first half.
Second Half
Klopp tried to get the Liverpool offence going after the half by bringing on Harvey Elliott for the ineffective Keita. For a moment, the Reds did look more lively. Salah would have Liverpool's best chance to score in the 49th minute. He would curl a shot in that hit the underside of the crossbar but would stay out of the net. When the ball left Mo's foot, it very much looked like it was going in.
As the half wore on, Crystal Palace were able to blunt Liverpool's attack much like in the first half. In fact, as the half wore on, the Eagles had more possession and looked more likely to score than the Reds did.
Cody Gakpo did have Liverpool's last-best chance in the 81st minute. The Reds managed a counterattacking rush that the Dutchman pulled just wide over a sprawling Guaita. The Reds would spend much of the remaining 10-plus minutes defending as Palace pressed for the win.
LFC Globe Verdict
This game was a snoozefest. It was 90-plus minutes of abject boredom. The Reds were clearly still smarting from their spanking at the hands of Madrid. They looked too cautious and it nearly cost them any points at all. However, it was good to see Liverpool keep a clean sheet.
Man of the Match and What's Next
Nothing really happened to give the Man of the Match to anyone. For me, the Man of the Match was the crossbar at the Holmesdale Road end of Selhurst Park. That absolute unit of a crossbar saw the most action in a really tepid game, deflecting Mateta's shot in the first half and Salah's in the second.
Next up for Liverpool is a familiar opponent of late. Once again it's Wolverhampton Wanderers. This time it's a meeting at Anfield on Wednesday 1st of March at 20:00 GMT. In a crazy scheduling quirk, it is the 4th time the two teams have met in 2023.
Goals
Crystal Palace
- None
Liverpool
- None
Substitutes
Crystal Palace
- Eduoard for Mateta 71'
- Eze for Schlupp 71'
Liverpool
- Elliott for Keita 46'
- Fabinho for Alexander-Arnold 71'
- Firmino for Jota 71'
- Bajcetic for Gakpo 84'
Cards
Crystal Palace
- Clyne 26'
- Andersen 90+3
Liverpool
- Keita 23'
- Henderson 67'
- Fabinho 76'
- Matip 82'
- Robertson 90+3'
