Liverpool stumbles over Crystal Palace at Anfield

Liverpool faced a significant setback on Sunday afternoon at Anfield, suffering a 0-1 defeat against Crystal Palace, diminishing their chances for the Premier League title. It increasingly appears that Liverpool may only secure the League Cup in Klopp's final season. This painful loss to Crystal Palace follows just three days after a crushing 0-3 defeat against Atalanta in the Europa League quarter-finals.

Horrible start

Crystal Palace, ranked 14th in the Premier League, took the lead at Anfield in the fourteenth minute. Following a well-executed attack involving midfielder Will Hughes and left-back Tyrick Mitchell, playmaker Eberechi Eze effortlessly scored from close range for the visitors from South London: 0-1. Shortly thereafter, it was nearly 0-2 for Palace after Virgil van Dijk slipped. However, striker Jean-Philippe Mateta's effort was cleared off the line by Andy Robertson, Liverpool's Scottish left-back.

Liverpool struggles

Liverpool had over 75 minutes remaining to turn the match around but failed to do so. The tempo was too sluggish to trouble Crystal Palace significantly, although there were still chances for the home team. Despite dominating with a chance ratio of 21-8 (6-5 on target) and 70% possession, Liverpool could not find the net.

Horror result in title race

In the 91st minute, Mohamed Salah came closest to equalizing, but his attempt was cleared off the line by Tyrick Mitchell. The most significant miss of the afternoon belonged to Curtis Jones. Fifteen minutes before full time, substitute Cody Gakpo set him up in front of the goalkeeper, but Jones astonishingly missed the target, much to the disbelief of the Anfield crowd. This 0-1 defeat is very painful in the title race for Liverpool. They started this weekend in a shared 1st position with Arsenal, by the time this match ended Man City was already ahead of both teams. Arsenal could take the lead at home against Aston Villa. Fortunately for Liverpool, the Gunners also failed, but that means Manchester City is now two points ahead of both.