After Arsenal’s defeat against Aston Villa on Saturday and Liverpool’s late 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday, the Premier League leaders concluded the weekend ahead of schedule.
Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday was yet another example of their tenacity.
Mohammed Salah also had a historic day as his equalising goal marked his 200th goal for the team overall in all competitions. Harvey Elliott then delivered the winning goal in injury time to complete the champagne occasion.
But despite being top of the Premier League, Jurgen Klopp’s focus will also now be on the January transfer window. The Reds are struggling for defensive cover after Joel Matip was ruled out for the rest of the season, with the German manager is also reportedly targeting another midfielder.
Klopp breaks remarkable Ferguson record
After Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, Jurgen Klopp has surpassed Sir Alex Ferguson’s record for late winners in the Premier League.
Ferguson’s sides at Manchester United had a habit of scoring goals late in the game during his 26 years there. Because of the number of late goals the Red Devils scored, stoppage time was even known by fans as “Fergie Time”; nevertheless, his record has since been surpassed.
At Selhurst Park, Harvey Elliott scored a spectacular goal in the 91st minute to propel Liverpool to the top of the Premier League. His goal was Liverpool’s 17th Premier League goal in the 90th minute of play, one more than the 16 under Ferguson’s supervision.
Salah presented with special shirt
Following his 200th goal for the team in all competitions, Mohamed Salah was given a special shirt by his teammates, and Jurgen Klopp acknowledged that Liverpool owed him an apology.
He became just the fifth player in Liverpool history to reach that milestone with his goal in the 76th minute at Selhurst Park. And after the game, Klopp summarised how important Salah has been over the years by saying he had been serenaded by his teammates.
After two weeks, we’ve been carrying that shirt with us; at last, we could present it to him, Klopp exclaimed. Amazing amount for a very special, very, very special player. I’m not sure how many times he’s come through for us with a goal at the perfect time.It was a pretty loud reception for him in the dressing room, when I gave him the shirt with the 200 on the back.”
Alisson makes mentality claim
Alisson Becker, the goalie for Liverpool, made remarks following the team’s victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday that imply the present group is mentally similar to the “mentality monsters” who won the Premier League in 2019–20.
After recovering from the injury that kept him out of his team’s previous three games, he observed, “A winning team needs that kind of mentality to keep on coming from behind.” The Brazilian made a huge save in the first half to keep a subpar Liverpool team in the match, and he also had to make a huge save in stoppage time to keep out Joachim Andersen’s header.
“Of course we want to do the things better early but sometimes the things you plan, they don’t come out,” he said. “We didn’t give our best effort today, but in the closing 20 minutes we improved with the ball.”
