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Louise Thomas
Editor
Alisson Becker remains the king of Selhurst Park, but if he and Virgil van Dijk showed what Liverpool’s title bid will be built on this season, a win at Crystal Palace was perhaps also another indication of why the Reds spent part of this summer looking at the future.
The last time the Eagles won at home against Liverpool was in November 2014, long before the Brazilian arrived. On that occasion, Mile Jedinak wrapped up the points with a free-kick sent past Simon Mignolet. In the decade since, the Merseyside club’s defence as a whole has gotten considerably better, as has the holder of the No.1 position.
On more than one occasion, Alisson himself has been the difference between Liverpool taking three points at this very ground and not; two and a half years ago in particular he was a one-man barricade as a dismal defensive display still only saw Liverpool concede once and win 3-1.
While this time didn’t quite call for the same number of heroics, it was still very much down to Alisson that the Reds – dominant for an hour but oddly lax in their finishing and final pass – shut Palace out and, ultimately, recorded a 1-0 victory. Another clean sheet, top across the international break and comfortably the league’s best defensive record is the outcome.
Yet it’s likely to be the last time they benefit from Allison’s qualities for several weeks. More often than is usually the case for goalkeepers, Alisson succumbs to injuries and a strong back-up goalkeeper is called upon. Caoimhin Kelleher is normally the replacement, but the Irishman also has a surprising number of absences. So, when Alisson went down once more – his second injury this term already – with 15 minutes left on the clock and the Palace pressure building, Arne Slot found himself down to a third choice who had never before played in a competitive game for the club.
Vitezslav Jaros is not a rookie, to be clear. Aged 23 and already a Czech Republic senior international, he had a handful of domestic loan spells before moving to Sturm Graz last year; there he shone as the team won the domestic double and appeared in European competition for the first time. One big save from Eberechi Eze later and he finished the job Alisson had started, a clean sheet preserved and three points keeping Liverpool top of the Premier League table – and Palace winless.
Yet the home fans had started the early kick-off vociferously. And why not be optimistic from the off? The fans were roaring with delight and Oliver Glasner was out of his seat and halfway down the technical area before they each realised a 30th-second clipped finish into the net was, by quite some distance, actually offside.
That false start proved to be about as good as it got in the first half for the hosts. It ended up being a similar move down the opposite end of the pitch that opened the scoring: Cody Gakpo in down the left, a low ball into the middle met by Diogo Jota, the finish slid past and under Dean Henderson.
And soon after Alexis Mac Allister almost doubled the lead with a mirror-image move down the right, Daniel Munoz went down injured and called for a replacement – all these setbacks for Palace inside 15 minutes. They were outfought, outplayed and outworked for the remainder of the opening period.
Yet despite his goal separating the teams at the break, Jota should have had a hat-trick by the hour mark. From a similar position to his goal, he miskicked wide from a low cut-back towards him. Then after the break, he was utterly free for a header, delivered by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick, but steered past the post with not enough contact on the ball.
That profligacy meant Alisson had been needed.
Despite Palace’s poor first 45 minutes, Ismaila Sarr ended it with a driven, angled shot that produced a big save from Alisson; then Eddie Nketiah tested him again past the hour mark and Eze did rather more than that with a fierce hit from the edge of the box. Alisson was equal to all, then limped off.
“What we do know is when you walk off like he does, I don’t expect him to be in the team the first game we play afterwards. It’ll take a few weeks I assume,” Slot said.
“Alisson is the best goalkeeper in the world so it’s a blow when he gets injured. But the positive is, in every position we have a second option who is really good. Caoimhin has shown that [too] so he’s a clear number two. Caoimhin did very well when Alisson was injured last time and now it’s decent to see our third goalkeeper can also have an impact on our results.”
This throws thoughts forward, not just to the international break but to next year and beyond, with the Reds having signed Giorgi Mamardashvili.
The giant Georgian will not expect to be sat on the bench for long, if at all, yet Alisson is one of the world’s best. So is it to be a slow succession plan or a move on from one No.1 to another? Either way, Liverpool will want Mamardashvili to be more reliable in fitness terms, and every bit as reliable in technical terms.
Few can match Alisson in that regard – and especially at this ground, it seems.
