The Premier League title will not arrive as anyone at Liverpool envisaged but, should this prove the victory that delivers number 19, a masterful dismantling of a Crystal Palace team led by Roy Hodgson will seem highly appropriate. The imperfections that surround Liverpool’s season are not of their making. Ten years ago Hodgson stood perplexed in the dugout that Jürgen Klopp now commands. Five years ago it was Palace that left Liverpool’s new manager feeling alone after Scott Dann’s late winner sent home fans heading for the exits. How far Liverpool have come from that low ebb and that loneliness. The club, united even while apart from its fans, stands on the verge of a first league title for 30 years after a performance that captured the best of this season’s undisputed champions. Sublime goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Fabinho and Sadio Mané put Liverpool within two points of their promised land. It will be only 24 hours away should Manchester City drop points at Chelsea on Thursday. So close now. Liverpool’s 56th league game without defeat at Anfield – Palace being the last victor in April 2017 – demonstrated why Klopp’s team are on another level in the Premier League this season. Four outstanding goals made it 102 for the season in all competitions, Liverpool passing the landmark for the third successive season. Their work-rate with and without the ball was ferocious throughout, so much so that Palace did not have a single touch in the Liverpool penalty area all night. No team has achieved that unwanted record since such statistics started being recorded in the 2008-09 season. Liverpool were superior in every department. Behind-closed-doors matches may have the feel of a training ground exercise at times but this was an exhibition. The return of Salah and Andy Robertson to Klopp’s strongest starting XI helped restore the fluency that was lacking after a three-month enforced break at Everton on Sunday. Their value was immediately evident as both players stretched Liverpool’s play and the Palace defence along with it. Mané and Roberto Firmino were more like their old selves in the pockets of space that opened up. Liverpool created clearer opportunities in the first 10 minutes than the entirety of Sunday’s Merseyside derby but Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson both miscued. Palace desperately needed an outlet but their best option, Wilfried Zaha, hobbled off injured after only 15 minutes. Pace and penetration departed with him but it would have made little difference had Zaha remained on the pitch. The visitors were completely outclassed. The breakthrough Liverpool craved arrived shortly afterwards. Jordan Ayew was penalised for a needless nudge on Virgil van Dijk when Palace had dealt comfortably with a Liverpool corner. The foul invited Alexander-Arnold to fine-tune the free-kick routine that provided Liverpool’s greatest threat at Goodison Park. He fine-tuned it to perfection, whipping the set piece over the Palace wall from 25 yards and just inside Wayne Hennessey’s right-hand post. The meaning of the goal was not lost in the celebrations of the boyhood Liverpool fan who grew up near Melwood, crowd or no crowd. Liverpool were inches away from doubling their lead when Hennessey pushed a Robertson free-kick into the path of Henderson on the edge of the penalty area. The captain connected cleanly this time but his half-volley struck the base of a post and Joel Ward cleared from Van Dijk’s scrambled follow-up. At the subsequent corner Van Dijk was clearly held by Gary Cahill but neither Martin Atkinson nor VAR intervened. It was the same again, much to Liverpool’s disgust, when Firmino’s attempted flick over Cahill struck the defender’s raised arm inside the penalty area. Undeterred, Liverpool continued to control proceedings in an increasingly impressive display. Salah was presented with a chance to lob Hennessey from distance when the goalkeeper headed Alexander-Arnold’s long ball into his path. A difficult return was sliced wide, but there was no reprieve for the Wales international when Salah next had the Palace goal in his sights. The Egypt international’s 17th league goal of the season was the product of superb play in central midfield by Fabinho. Shrugging aside the close attentions of Ayew, the Brazilian strode forward and lofted an inch-perfect chip over Patrick van Aanholt’s blond hair into the run of Salah. Liverpool’s leading goalscorer took the ball on his chest before beating Hennessey with a convincing left-foot finish. Fabinho’s next contribution was even better. The second half brought no respite for Palace and the central midfielder punished them in stunning style when he collected Robertson’s pass and, with time and space to pick his spot, drilled an unstoppable finish beyond Hennessey from 30 yards. The polish was applied with the fourth, an exceptional team goal that began at the back and saw Salah release Mané with an exquisite first-time pass that dissected the Palace defence. Mané swept his finish inside the far corner and a guttural roar filled a stadium where over 50,000 supporters would usually be. It came from Klopp. It was a reaction that said it all. Almost there.