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SELHURST PARK, SOUTH LONDON // Eddie Nketiah gave Liverpool a taste of its own medicine at Crystal Palace as the Reds fell to a late defeat deep into stoppage time.
Federico Chiesa came off the bench and looked to have scored another goal to earn Liverpool something after a woeful first half cost Arne Slot's side the chance to move eight points clear of Arsenal. But the Italian was then outdone in the 98th minute by an even later striker.
First half, when a second ball from a corner dropped for Ismaila Sarr to poke him from close range, the winger, back from injury, was never going to miss. And only good fortune — poor finishing and some good goalkeeping — kept Liverpool in the game after that.
Crystal Palace looked set to be made to pay for its wastefulness, however, with Chiesa scoring late, only for Nketiah to repeat the trick.
Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded, with Slot's half-time changes paying off but not doing enough to turn things around.
Crystal Palace the deserving victor
Prior to kick-off, Crystal Palace's bio on X simply read: "17 unbeaten". You could see the confidence that the Eagles have at the moment and they set a club record in terms of an unbeaten run: 18 games, with its previous best set in 1969. That bio needs an update.
Liverpool didn't show up in the first half and was made to pay. Crystal Palace, on another day, might have been wishing it scored one more of the hatful of chances that it created, but a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Alisson Becker kept the scoreline down.
Oliver Glasner has a team of good players who are well-drilled in his system. If it was a litttle more ruthless, it would have been out of sight here before Liverpool got going. The Reds can have no complaints about coming away with nothing.
Florian Wirtz lost
Florian Wirtz has not played much from the left during his Liverpool career to date — he has normally been deployed centrally as a number 10 — but he was shifted wide-ish here to accommodate the most physical midfield possible.
In truth, the German was moving inside at every opportunity. Wirtz was on the right touchline as much as the left one, and it all looked a bit muddled. He couldn't find space and wasn't offering an outball on the wing.
It is safe to say that the formation switch that Arne Slot plumped for didn't work. Wirtz, Isak and Salah as a front three is exciting on paper, but just didn't work at all.
In the second half, things looked much more balanced. Wirtz was in the middle by design then and was much more involved. He couldn't quite help Liverpool find the back of the net, though, and he was taken off and replaced by Chiesa.
Alexander Isak misfires
Making his first Premier League start since becoming the British record transfer, Isak had one big chance when he was through on goal but under pressure from the Crystal Palace defense.
Aside from that, he was feeding on relative scraps. Isak headed over the bar in the second half but that wasn't his fault. Most of the chances that came to him were self-generated.
The main positive was that he played so many minutes as he continues to get back up to speed. Nearing the end of his mini pre-season, the striker's issue here was quality of opportunity rather than a lack of sharpness.
Marc Guehi impresses
Had things gone slightly differently on transfer deadline day, Marc Guehi could have been lining up for Liverpool here. Instead, the England ace was on the left of the Crystal Palace back three, marshaling those around him and keeping a keen eye on Mohamed Salah, who was drifting inside from the right.
Guehi is a big fan favorite at Selhurst Park and while he will almost certainly be playing his final season in the red and white stripes of the South London outfit, Crystal Palace was right to keep him. Without a replacement, it had no choice, and with a European campaign to contend with, Oliver Glasner was correct to put his foot down.
Here, Guehi wasn't giving Liverpool an inch. The England ace didn't put a foot wrong, though Liverpool would have wanted to test him significantly more than it did.
Premier League state of play
Liverpool knew that a win here would move it eight points clear of Arsenal in the Premier League standings. Though clearly it is still very early in the season and Arsenal is yet to play this weekend, that would have been a substantial gap.
Mikel Arteta's men will take on Newcastle United at St James' Park tomorrow — a tough fixture, but one that Liverpool has already won this year — and anything less than a victory for the Gunners would have left them trailing by a decent gap.
Instead, Liverpool couldn't get the result that, even at this stage, would have dialed up the pressure on Arsenal. Having lost at Anfield, it doesn't want to get into the same position as last season, where it was playing catch-up and eventually ran out of chances.
"If Liverpool wins this game and Arsenal loses on Sunday, the title race is over — finished!" Paul Merson said this week. That might have been a tad dramatic but the Reds missed the chance to test his theory.
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