John Brewin was at Selhurst Park, and his report has landed. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM. Oliver Glasner talks to TNT. “The first half Liverpool showed why they have lost just one game … we struggled a little bit … the second half we played really well … we created chances … a clear penalty … he holds him with two hands … the second half gives me a lot of confidence … we are disappointed because the players invested a lot … [Guehi] is held with two hands … he can’t go to the ball … it is a penalty … if the same foul is on the halfway line, it’s a foul … if it’s a foul, it’s a foul … we will build up on the second half … we showed we can play aggressive and cause problems … we created chances but didn’t take them and that’s why we lost.” That’s nine wins in Arne Slot’s first ten matches, which makes his start the best in the 132-year history of Liverpool Football Club. Here’s where he stands in the admittedly niche most-wins-in-first-ten-matches pantheon. (“If they only remember me because of this, then it hasn’t been the best period of the Liverpool era,” Slot quips.) 9: Arne Slot 8: William Barclay 7: John McKenna, Bob Paisley Arne Slot speaks to TNT Sports about his team’s performance … “I think my wife is happy now because she’ll have someone home who is happy and not unhappy … I am really satisfied about the way we have started the season … I am hoping to do more special things than only winning nine out of ten, but it’s a good start … I really like our performance as well … there was a period when we conceded a lot of free kicks, throw-ins and corners … that was difficult … you need to score a second because you break them mentally … but in my opinion we were the dominant team.” … the Van Dijk-Guehi incident … “Probably if the referee had given it, VAR wouldn’t have changed it … but for me it was not a penalty because he would never get the ball … but I do not think Palace fans can be unhappy with the referee today because it took us 55 minutes for us to get our first free kick … but it is an important decision so that’s why we talk about it.” … Liverpool’s post-break run of fixtures … “It’s true that the fixtures are difficult … but I have also felt how difficult Wolves away is, and how difficult Palace away is … we will probably not be as dominant as we were today when we face Arsenal away, but both fixtures are really difficult … now it’s up to us to show ourselves in the big games.” … and Alisson’s injury. “Unfortunately Ali won’t be with us in those matches I assume, if I saw how he walked off the pitch … but it was also good to see with [Caoimhín Kelleher] being sick yesterday, our third goalkeeper got his performance in … [Vítězslav Jaroš] was really good, he had a really good season last season, he won the league and cup in Austria … we trust him a lot.” Post-match postbag o’patter. “For someone who doesn’t like the 12.30 slot, Slot’s slotted into it, Jota’s slot slots them firmly into top spot, a slot Klopp’s not slotted a lot since they last got that spot. Slotted!” – Jeremy Boyce Player-of-the-match Virgil van Dijk talks to TNT. “It’s always hard to come here … it’s always tight and close … we scored a fantastic goal … we could have done better in the second half … a big three points … we keep going … keep working … we are never satisfied … we needed Alisson twice, three times maybe … I am very happy with a clean sheet … whatever the outside world thinks of us, we don’t really care … we want to improve and challenge … we want to compete to the final day … to win and be successful … we know how tough the fixture list will be after the international break, but why not enjoy it.” The quietly impressive Cody Gakpo adds: “My first start [in the Premier League this season] … you want to show what you got … we have a great squad with a lot of quality … today was my turn … I did my best.” Liverpool made hard work of that. They should have been out of sight – Diogo Jota should be celebrating a hat-trick, really – but a second goal proved elusive, and Crystal Palace grew into the game during a tense second half. The hosts had chances of their own to equalise, and arguably should have had a penalty for Virgil van Dijk’s tug on Marc Guéhi’s arm, but PGMOL say otherwise. Differing opinions will no doubt be found on the internet. But despite eventually flopping over the finishing line, Liverpool deserved the three points on the balance of play. It’s six wins from seven in the Premier League for Arne Slot, and work-in-progress Liverpool go into the international break on top of the Premier League. Palace meanwhile remain in the relegation places … but there is surely no way this team will end up in a relegation battle if the determination they showed in the second half is anything to go by. FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 0-1 Liverpool Liverpool go four points clear at the top, for a couple of hours at least. 90 min +6: Gakpo sensationally keeps the ball in play down the left touchline, then wins a corner. That should be enough to get Liverpool over the line. Just. 90 min +5: Jota burns some clock by winning a free kick out on the left flank. Then Endo flicks a ball heading out for a goal kick out for a throw instead. Hughes then foul-throws. A frustrating 60 seconds for the hosts, and there aren’t too many more of those left. 90 min +4: Szoboszlai sends a weak shot wide left of goal. On TNT Sports, Lucy Ward names Van Dijk as her player of the match. 90 min +3: Kamada sends a long pass down the left for Mateta … but Jaroš comes to the edge of his box to claim. 90 min +2: A long ball down the middle of the park. Van Dijk heads back towards his keeper … weakly … but Robertson completes the job and Jaroš gathers. 90 min +1: Jota spins into space down the right flank. He’s got Diaz clear in the middle, but Lacroix slide-blocks to keep Palace in it. 90 min: There will be six additional minutes. 89 min: Jones makes way for Endo. Meanwhile here’s the official reasoning for not awarding a penalty for Van Dijk’s hold on Guehi. 88 min: Chalobah is replaced by Kamada. 86 min: Gakpo dribbles down the left and cuts infield. He looks for the top-right corner. High and wide. The tension at Selhurst is palpable. Both teams living on the edge. 84 min: Mateta latches onto a loose ball in the midfield and drives Palace forward. He slips Eze in down the left. Eze opens his body in the hope of steering a shot into the bottom right … but only succeeds in slamming the ball into the grateful chest of Jaroš, making his first meaningful save as a Liverpool keeper. 83 min: Liverpool draw a little sting from the situation by faffing around at a couple of restarts. Professionalism in action. “If Alisson’s injury troubles continue, it could be him shown the door next summer instead of Kelleher,” spitballs Patrick Crumlish. 81 min: Palace are pushing Liverpool back now, hoping to pile the pressure on the debutant keeper. Lerma releases that pressure, flaying a preposterous long-distance effort into the stand. 79 min: Jaroš’s first act is to watch a Hughes half-volley sail inches wide of the top-right corner. Meanwhile Robertson comes on for Tsimikas. 78 min: Alisson limps off sadly. For a keeper he doesn’t half pick up some injuries. He’ll be replaced by … Vítězslav Jaroš, because the usual understudy Caoimhín Kelleher is absent himself today. Jaroš, a 23-year-old Czech international, makes his Liverpool debut. 77 min: Alexander-Arnold passes back. Alisson shanks a weird clearance out of play with his left peg, and it soon becomes apparent why, as the keeper immediately goes down clutching his hamstring. He punches the ground in frustration. 75 min: Nketiah is booked for clambering on the back of Gakpo. All of a sudden, this game has kicked off a bit. A fair chance we might not end with 22 players. 74 min: Tsimikas fouls Sarr out on the right flank. Sarr waves an imaginary yellow card and receives one himself. Nothing comes of the resulting free kick, but the Selhurst crowd has its dander up now. Plenty of noise as Palace start putting themselves about at last. 73 min: Hughes is booked for scything Jones from behind. Meanwhile clearer replays of that Guehi penalty claim show Van Dijk tugging away at the defender’s arm. You’ve seen them given. 71 min: Salah is replaced by Diaz. 70 min: From the set piece, Chalobah backflicks goalwards. Cute. Alisson punches clear. Guehi thinks he’s being held by Van Dijk but there’s not enough in it. Another corner, which leads to Lerma flipping Tsimikas over while his opponent was in mid-air. Lerma is booked. 69 min: Some slack after-you-sir defending by Liverpool allows Mateta to barge his way down the middle. He lays off to Eze on his left. Eze blasts a shot towards the top-right corner. Alisson is forced to palm out for a corner. 68 min: Alexander-Arnold cuts in from the right and attempts a curler towards the top left. Miles high and wide. Both teams drifting a little bit here. 66 min: Szoboszlai pings a long-range shot straight at Henderson, who claims. For all Liverpool’s dominance, they’ve not given the Palace keeper too much serious work to do. Anyway, apropos TAXING THE RICH … “Not sure if I qualify as rich,” begins Gregory S Crawford, a Professor of Applied Microeconomics at the University of Zurich, “though probably yes as everyone who lives in Switzerland should do … but it’s remarkable how so many of society’s problems could be solved by simply taxing the rich (rather wealth, but six-of-one...). My professional opinion and all. Funny that more people don’t just SAY SO. There might even be an analogy to the sovereign-wealth and private-equity takeover of the Premier League, but fleshing it out is probably too much thinking for a Saturday afternoon.” 64 min: Gravenberch ships possession carelessly, allowing Nketiah a shy at goal from the edge of the Liverpool D. He creams an effort towards the bottom right, but Alisson is up to the challenge. A fine shot with a save to match. 62 min: It’s Chalobah’s turn to get physical, with Salah, but he overeggs it. A free kick, 30 yards out, right of centre. Alexander-Arnold swings it towards the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Jota meets it, but sends a weak header wide left. He should have worked Henderson at the very least. He probably should have scored. In a parallel universe somewhere, he’s scored a hat-trick today. 61 min: Hughes’s first act is to wrestle with Alexander-Arnold as the latter dribbles into the Palace box from the right. It’s a risky gambit, but one that pays off, as he earns a free kick, albeit one that’s generously awarded. 60 min: Yep, here we go. Mitchell and Wharton, the latter carrying a groin injury, are replaced by Mateta and Hughes. 58 min: Palace are achieving the square root of nowt. TNT pundit Joe Cole has just described Oliver Glasner as looking “forlorn”. Changes are afoot. 56 min: Gravenberch shoots this time, from 25 yards, but the ball clanks off Guehi. Palace half clear, but Van Dijk quarterbacks from deep, wedging a lovely ball down the inside-right channel for Salah, who traps then shoots. Henderson saves at point-blank range. That would have been a beauty. 55 min: A passing move, from left to right across the face of the Palace box: Gravenberch, Gakpo, Szoboszlai, Salah,Alexander-Arnold. Too many passes, too few shots. Palace clear their lines. 53 min: Mitchell attempts to replicate Paul Konchesky’s fluke in the 2006 FA Cup final. Nearly. His shanked cross from the left floats over Alisson but also the bar. 51 min: Now Guehi wrestles Jota to the floor on the halfway line. No free kick, and the normally placid Arne Slot kicks off on the touchline. He calms down quickly enough, to be fair. That registers about two-and-a-half on our patented Klopp-o-meter®. 50 min: Jota turns on a sixpence and looks to escape from Lerma. He’s brought down from behind. Lerma is slightly fortunate not to go into the book. He might be in one-more territory. 48 min: Alexander-Arnold sends Salah skittering into space down the right. Salah dillies and dallies and runs the ball out for a goal kick. Uncharacteristically lax. 47 min: Gakpo whistles a cross from the left towards Salah, racing in from the opposite flank. Henderson reads the danger and intercepts. Otherwise, a quiet start to the second half. Literally so: hardly a peep from the normally boisterous Selhurst faithful. Liverpool get the second half under way. They’ve replaced Mac Allister with Szoboszlai. Half-time entertainment. In which our man fires the opening salvo of a debate which will hopefully end with everything nationalised and the rich properly taxed. Game on! HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 0-1 Liverpool Liverpool have been by far the better team, and should have more than one goal to show for their dominance. But Palace had a goal disallowed after just 21 seconds, then showed signs of waking up towards the end of the half, so they’ll have a platform to build on. Intriguing and potentially very entertaining second half coming up! 45 min +2: Sarr has suddenly woken up, and now he shoots from the right-hand edge of the Liverpool D towards the bottom left. Alisson gets down to stop with a strong hand.45 min +1: The first of two additional first-half minutes passes by without fuss. 45 min: Sarr and Tsimikas battle for a ball bouncing down the inside-right channel. The ball rears up and hits Tsimikas on the hand, and VAR has a look, but it’s not a penalty because the arm was in “a natural running position”, is the latest thing that’s been made up on the spot. 43 min: Mac Allister goes into the book for cynically attempting to stop a Palace counter by bringing down Eze. He failed to make any connection, but the challenge was so brazen, the intent was enough. 42 min: The ball’s shuttled right to left across the face of the Palace box by Alexander-Arnold and Mac Allister. Tsimikas takes a strong whack. Lacroix bravely takes the brunt of it to block. 41 min: Alexander-Arnold delivers. Van Dijk meets at the near post, and heads over. Palace counter but the rare sortie comes to a diminuendo end as Mitchell’s left-wing cross dribbles through unopposed to Alisson. 40 min: … then suddenly the pace picks up again, and Gakpo crosses from the left. Guehi is forced to concede yet another corner. 39 min: Liverpool are strolling around at the moment. Happy to sit back and see what’s what. 37 min: The corner’s a non-event. The way Arsenal carry on is harder than they make it look. 36 min: Jones slips a ball down the left flank for Jota, who swivels to win a corner. Alexander-Arnold slowly trots across to take it. While he does that, Richard Hirst has an answer for Gary Naylor of 27th-minute fame: “Andersen is definitely worth as much to the buying team. Exhibits A and B: Fulham’s league position and their defensive record. He has brought not just his own ability but his leadership and organisational capabilities. A crucial purchase.” 34 min: Gravenberch strides into the Palace box from the right and rolls across to Jota, who should surely score from eight yards. But he wafts an awful sidefoot miles wide left. He was trying to be too cute there. Time to get the laces through it. It should be 0-2. 33 min: Jones has a nibble at Guehi and receives the one-more-and-it’s-yellow lecture from the referee. The resulting free kick is sent long into the Liverpool box, and wins Palace a corner, from which nothing comes. But the last couple of minutes have given the Palace faithful some succour, and the noise ramps up accordingly. 31 min: Gakpo is booked for catching Sarr late on the ankle. It looked accidental rather than malicious, and the subsequent apology is accepted. 30 min: Alexander-Arnold sends the free gift into the mixer. Gakpo flicks it on, but sends it wide right. 29 min: Wharton gives the ball away 30 yards from his own goal. Alexander-Arnold sends a fierce drive towards the bottom left. Henderson palms away with a strong hand. Clyne should clear the loose ball but carelessly lets it run out of play for a corner. 27 min: Liverpool continue to dominate. Palace can hardly get a touch. Gakpo cuts in from the left and looks for the top-right corner. He finds the top-right corner of the Holmesdale Road. “Is Joachim Andersen one of those players who is worth more to the selling team than the buying one?” wonders Gary Naylor. “£30m seemed a reasonable price for Fulham to pay for a 28 year-old, but could Palace replace his combination of experience, nous and leadership for that? It sounds crazy, but I suspect it happens quite often. There’s no way Liverpool could walk the ball into the net like that if he’s on the pitch.” 25 min: Guehi heads the corner over his own bar. The next attempt nearly tees up Gravenberch on the edge of the D, but he can’t get a shot away due to Lerma’s tenacity. Lerma eventually wins a free kick for his efforts, and earns some appreciative applause from the home fans, who haven’t had too much to shout about since the 21-second mark. 24 min: Konate, Gravenberch and Salah triangulate down the middle of the park. Some lovely football. Jones prepares to shoot but the pass is taken away from him by Mitchell. Another Tsimikas corner from the right coming up. 22 min: Lerma flicks Tsimikas’s corner away from danger. Liverpool have looked more dangerous than usual from corners lately, but they’re not Arsenal yet. 21 min: Jones, Tsimikas and Gakpo combine cutely down the left before the latter crosses deep in the hope of finding Salah at the far stick. Mitchell is on hand to flick out for a corner. 19 min: Gravenberch turns elegantly into space in the midfield, and nearly sends Salah clear down the middle. Chalobah is on point to put a stop to the attack. 17 min: Clyne, formerly of Liverpool, comes on to replace the stricken Munoz. 16 min: Munoz is down feeling his thigh. Not sure he’ll be able to continue. He certainly doesn’t look too happy. The physio comes on, then the pair trudge off. No sub yet. 15 min: Liverpool have enjoyed 83 percent of possession so far. That 21-second Nketiah shock seems an awfully long time ago now. “Good advertisement for squad depth with Robertson’s, Diaz’s and Nunez’s replacements combining for that goal,” observes Patrick Crumlish. 14 min: Space for Salah down the right. He crosses low. Mac Allister opts to dummy instead of poking goalwards at the near post, but there’s nobody in white behind him. Palace clear their lines. 13 min: Lerma blasts a confident clearing header upfield. “Unlike Matt Dony I’m in the unusual position of being very relaxed,” announces Richard Hirst. “If Palace win it keeps the top of the table closer to Fulham (!), if Liverpool win it, more realistically, keeps a bottom of the table team a long way behind us. Happy days.” 12 min: Mac Allister’s crossfield pass towards Alexander-Arnold on the right is immediately dispatched back into the Palace box. Guehi is forced to head behind with Jota and Gakpo lurking. Tsimikas to take the corner. 11 min: Before the game, Slot talked of keeping Selhurst quiet in the early exchanges. His team haven’t quite achieved that, on account of the away fans bellowing their songbook in celebration. GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Liverpool (Jota 9) Liverpool ping it around patiently – this is Slotball – before – and this is also Slotball – suddenly turning it up a notch. Tsimikas slips a pass down the inside-left channel for Gakpo, who fizzes a low cross into the middle. Jota is the sharpest, arriving to slam home from eight yards. Easy as that. 7 min: … nothing occurs. Eze’s delivery is easily cleared by Gakpo. 6 min: Eze drives down the left before switching play to Munoz on the other flank. He fires a low, hard cross into the six-yard box, forcing Van Dijk to block out for a corner. From which … 4 min: Van Dijk plays a glorious crossfield pass towards Salah on the right touchline, where a one-two with Alexander-Arnold doesn’t come off. Both teams showing plenty of ambition in these early exchanges. 2 min: What a start that would have been for Palace. Brentfordesque. The move started by Lerma winning a 50-50 with Gravenberch in the midfield. Liverpool breathe again. 21 seconds: Crystal Palace have the ball in the net! Wharton slips a pass down the inside-right channel for Sarr, who rolls into the centre for Nketiah. The striker lifts the ball over Alisson and in! But the flag goes up. He’s gone too soon. Crystal Palace get the ball rolling. The hosts are kicking towards the Whitehorse Lane Stand in this first half. The teams are out! Crystal Palace are red and blue and Glad All Over. The usual magnificent atmosphere at Selhurst. Liverpool meanwhile are in crisp third-choice white with black shorts; a proper 1987 Littlewoods Cup final vibe, if memories of Crystanbul haven’t been painful enough. Apologies to Matt Dony. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes! Pre-match postbag. “There have been 60 games thus far in the Premier League, 21 home wins, 21 home losses, 18 ties. Are we overstating the home advantage?” – Gary Stover “Do the suits give the 1230 slot more frequently to Liverpool because Slot dislikes it or does Slot dislike it more because the suits scheduling it more frequently? Anyway, Slot has one escape route should they drop points today” – krishnamoorthy v “At the risk of annoying a lot of people, there’s an internet phenomenon known as The Game. The aim of The Game is simply to not think about The Game. When you think about The Game, you immediately lose The Game. And you are always playing The Game. As a Liverpool fan, I play a very similar game. The aim of this game is, Don’t Think About The 3-3 Draw Away To Palace. And I just lost it. Again. It happens a surprising amount” – Matt Dony Oliver Glasner speaks to TNT. “Ismaïla [Sarr] had very good performances when he came into the game … always a positive impact … he has a lot of pace … we expect Liverpool to play very dominant … there will be space in behind … we hope he can find and use this space and score goals … Trevoh [Chalobah] seems to be ready … we don’t know if he will be able to play 95 or 100 minutes but he looked pretty good in training … we want to play against Liverpool … we want to compete with the best teams … today nobody expects the three points but we want it … we will give everything we have to get the win … we will see … it is football, it is sports … we want to play Liverpool, gorgeous weather, great playing at Selhurst Park at 12.30 … we feel ready so let’s go!” Arne Slot talks to TNT Sports and is asked about Liverpool’s “brilliant” start to the season. “Brilliant would have been nine [wins] out of nine! … this has been a very good start … the key is we haven’t changed that much … the players and staff have bought in … working hard … the fixture list has also been good to us … today it’s a difficult one, so let’s see … we do a lot of things well … but if we want to stay where we are and compete with even tougher opponents we have to find another gear … against Wolves we started really slow … against the low block against Forest we had problems … you will never reach perfection but we aim for that … it’s a good moment for Curtis Jones to start, also because he’s not going to go to the international games … every away game around the world is difficult … it’s very important not to get the crowd going … we have to be aggressive without the ball … help the crowd not to be as loud as they can be.” Crystal Palace make two changes after the 2-1 defeat at Everton last weekend. Trevoh Chalobah, on loan from Chelsea, makes his debut, while Ismaïla Sarr starts on the wing; Daichi Kamada and Jean-Philippe Mateta drop to the bench. Liverpool make four changes to the team sent out to beat Bologna 2-0 on Wednesday night. Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas are in; Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez and Andrew Robertson are benched. The teams Crystal Palace: Henderson, Chalobah, Guehi, Lacroix, Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell, Sarr, Nketiah, Eze. Subs: Turner, Ward, Mateta, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Hughes, Umeh, Kporha. Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Jones, Mac Allister, Salah, Gravenberch, Gakpo, Jota. Subs: Jaros, Gomez, Endo, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Robertson, Quansah, Bradley. Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire). Preamble Crystal Palace have yet to win a Premier League game this season, while Liverpool are top of the table having won five of their first six. Add in the fact that the Reds have won eight of their last nine league visits to Selhurst Park, drawing the other, and there’s a fair chance you’ll be putting this down as an away banker this lunchtime. But look at it another way. Palace are surely too good not to snap their winless streak sooner rather than later; Liverpool surely can’t keep winning their away fixtures this season forever; and despite their great recent record at Selhurst, there’s always something nagging away at the back of Mersey minds … because Crystanbul left a lot of scar tissue. So good luck confidently predicting the outcome of this game, which could see Liverpool confidently extend their lead at the top, Palace get their season going belatedly, or anything in between. Kick-off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!