LONDON — Liverpool are going to face more durable duties than this journey to Selhurst Park over the following two months, however their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace proved that Arne Slot can rotate his crew and nonetheless get a key victory, even ending the match with debutant Vitezslav Jaros in purpose.
As Feyenoord supporters will know effectively, Slot favours sticking with a settled facet from match to match, making as few adjustments as doable. However on this lunchtime kickoff, coming simply 2½ days after their 2-0 Champions League win over Bologna, Slot tinkered and his Liverpool facet nonetheless produced the products.
Slot made 4 adjustments from the crew that beat Bologna midweek, with Kostas Tsimikas, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo all beginning whereas Andrew Robertson, Luis DÃaz, Darwin Núñez and Dominik Szoboszlai made manner. Outdoors of the various adjustments made for the Carabao Cup win over West Ham, this matched probably the most switches he has produced from one match to the following.
His coverage of sticking with a favoured lineup drew criticism when his crew seemed out of kinds of their 1-0 defeat at residence to Nottingham Forest three weeks in the past. It was their first match again after the worldwide break, the place 10 of his 11 starters had performed each matches for his or her nationwide sides throughout the globe. Within the week following that defeat, he pointed to his exceptional report, saying: “If rotation could be the rationale why you do not win a recreation, then it most likely would not be the primary recreation I misplaced in 2024 as a result of at Feyenoord, we did not rotate lots.”
Feyenoord used the second-fewest gamers within the Eredivisie (25) over the course of the 2023-24 season, and have been ranked eleventh out of the 18 groups within the Dutch league for complete adjustments to the beginning crew. However Slot shuffled issues at Selhurst Park, and the impact was a seamless transition from one win to the following, leaving Liverpool prime of the league heading into the second worldwide break.
Liverpool managed possession, having fun with 68.1% of the ball, scoring the one purpose of the sport after eight minutes by way of Diogo Jota. Palace seemed weak on the flanks and that proved to be their undoing as Gakpo discovered house behind Daniel Muñoz to tee up the Portugal worldwide. However this was nonetheless in need of the ruthless, all-dominating efficiency Slot demanded prematch as they need to have been three or 4 up by half-time. Slot needs his crew to place their foot on the opposition’s neck from the outset and maintain that strain on.
However this match could have come at a price. Alexis Mac Allister was changed on the interval, whereas Alisson Becker suffered one other harm when making a clearance with 11 minutes to go. CaoimhÃn Kelleher, who began the 3-0 win over Bournemouth two weeks in the past due to one other harm to the Brazilian No. 1, is an in a position deputy however was unavailable on Saturday attributable to sickness. On in Alisson’s place got here the unknown Jaros, making his Liverpool debut on the age of 23 after seven years on the membership’s books.
Jaros, who has had earlier mortgage spells with St Patrick’s Athletic, Notts County and Stockport County, performed his final aggressive match for SK Sturm Graz in Could. He made 14 appearances for the Austrian membership within the second half of final season to assist them win the league title, main his his first full cap for Czechia in the summertime; he is not just a few inexperienced goalkeeper being thrust into the limelight. He ended up doing what was required, however with sterner duties mendacity in wait, Liverpool will hope to have Alisson or Kelleher obtainable.
Now we’ll discover out what Slot is made from after a extremely promising begin, a real understanding of their sturdiness. Chelsea (H), Arsenal (A), Brighton & Hove Albion (H), Aston Villa (H), Southampton (A), Manchester Metropolis (H), Newcastle United (A) and Everton (A) are up subsequent within the Premier League, interspersed with Champions League dates at RB Leipzig and at residence to Bayer Leverkusen and Actual Madrid. It should take a look at the depth of Slot’s squad, and he would possibly want grow to be accustomed to shuffling his pack extra.
This match additionally confirmed that Liverpool may be able to fall in love the Saturday lunchtime kickoffs, which Klopp had made abundantly clear he despised. Liverpool are two wins from two on the early Saturday fixture this season, with Slot saying earlier than the sport: “If 12:30 is a tough time to carry out then I am a very silly supervisor as a result of we practice every single day at 12.” He would not seem like a supervisor who’s eager to rail towards the system or scheduling.
For Palace, this was yet one more match that has handed them by. Having completed final time period in such good trend with six wins from seven, they’re winless after their opening seven matches. Supervisor Oliver Glasner has needed to construct a brand new crew right here after dropping Joachim Andersen, Michael Olise and Jordan Ayew in the summertime, after which bringing in Trevoh Chalobah, Maxence Lacroix and Eddie Nketiah on switch deadline day. They’re nonetheless mixing an understanding, but it surely stays to be seen how a lot endurance the board has for this to show round because the boos rang out at full time.