Liverpool suffered a huge blow to their Premier League title hopes as they were beaten 1-0 at Anfield by Crystal Palace.
The Reds missed the chance to return to top spot as Eberechi Eze’s early goal handed the visitors a hard-fought but deserved victory.
Jurgen Klopp’s side now need slip-ups from both Arsenal and Manchester City to have any chance of coming out on top in the title race.
Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Alisson Becker – 6/10 – Could do little about the opener and made a brilliant save from Mateta to keep it at 1-0.
RB: Conor Bradley – 4/10 – Could not affect the game in an offensive sense or lock down his flank before picking up an injury early in the second half that forced him off.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 6/10 – Did mostly well in his battle with Mateta but lacked composure in possession as Liverpool chased the game.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 5/10 – Won his duels but will look back on the fact he was marking nobody for the Palace goal with real regret.
LB: Andy Robertson – 7/10 – Liverpool’s biggest threat in a disappointing first half and cleared brilliantly off the line from Mateta.
DM: Wataru Endo – 3/10 – Should have done better to block the pull-back that allowed Palace to open the scoring and continuously gave the ball away before being hooked at half-time.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister – 5/10 – It is perhaps no coincidence that Liverpool have struggled with his creative influence waning in recent weeks. Off colour again.
CM: Curtis Jones – 5/10 – Kept the ball well enough but did not win enough challenges to keep Liverpool on top.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 4/10 – Has struggled since his return from injury and was bettered by makeshift centre-back Lerma here.
CF: Darwin Nunez – 4/10 – Missed a glorious chance to level things as part of a forgettable performance up top.
LW: Luis Diaz – 5/10 – Tested Henderson with an acrobatic effort in the first half but didn’t do much to trouble the Palace defence after that.
Substitutes
SUB: Dominik Szoboszlai (46′ for Endo) – 5/10
SUB: Alexander-Arnold (49′ for Bradley) – 6/10
SUB: Diogo Jota (66′ for Diaz) – 6/10
SUB: Cody Gakpo (66′ for Nunez) – 7/10
SUB: Harvey Elliott (83′ for Jones) – 6/10
Manager
Jurgen Klopp – 4/10 – Had no answers. His Anfield reign looks to be limping to a close.
Source – Liverpool 0-1 Crystal Palace: Player ratings as Reds suffer major title blow (90min.com)
