Liverpool continued their impressive start to the season by securing a sixth successive victory in all competitions with victory at Crystal Palace – but it came at a cost as goalkeeper Alisson went off with an injury.
The early Premier League pacesetters took the three points thanks to Diogo Jota’s first-half strike as the Portugal forward capitalised on some poor defending to turn in Cody Gakpo’s cross.
But as they closed in on the three points Alisson appeared to suffer a hamstring injury when making a clearance and was replaced by Vitezslav Jaros for the final 10 minutes, with the Czech goalkeeper making his debut.
Liverpool have lost just once in the Premier League so far but Crystal Palace are winless, with this their fourth defeat in seven games.
They had an early Eddie Nketiah strike disallowed for offside, while Ismaila Sarr forced a good save out of Alisson just before the break.
Liverpool’s inability to find a second meant that Palace – having been a distant second best for large periods – were always in with a chance of taking something.
Alisson was twice called upon in the second half to make saves, first keeping out Nketiah’s shot after the visitors had been caught in possession, and then denying Eberechi Eze.
While the late change in goal was a blow for Liverpool, Palace were unable to truly test Jaros before the final whistle, with Eze firing straight at the goalkeeper after a good break.
The win meant Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the table before the 15:00 BST games got under way. Palace, meanwhile, remain in the bottom three with three points from seven games.
Liverpool leggy but get the job done
The post-Jurgen Klopp era could not be going much better for Liverpool and this win continued Arne Slot’s stunning start as manager.
His Reds side have won all four away games in the league so far this season – only the third time they have done that in their history.
Slot has also become just the fourth manager in Premier League history to win each of his first four away games in the competition, after Felipe Scolari (first eight), John Gregory (five) and Bobby Gould (four).
This win came just three days after Liverpool had been in Champions League action, and while Slot played down the turnaround for a 12:30 BST kick-off, tiredness clearly showed in a leggy second-half display.
As they did in the 2-0 win against Bologna in midweek, they rode their luck at times as Palace threatened an equaliser after a break, but they did enough to keep their winning run going.
The main concern will be the injury to Alisson, who look frustrated after suffering the injury when he cleared the ball, although he was able to walk off unaided.
Second-half encouragement for Palace
It has been a disappointing start to the season for Crystal Palace as they find themselves in the relegation zone and still searching for their first league win of the season.
But while they were a distant second best in the first half they can draw encouragement from their performance after the break.
The Eagles were far braver in attack, particularly after the introduction of Jean-Philippe Mateta, and only a couple of good saves by Alisson before he went off denied them a point they perhaps deserved for their second-half display.
Boss Oliver Glasner now has the international break to build on that before tough-looking fixtures against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and Aston Villa.
