Blog: Reds must end Palace run to build on Wednesday
As Liverpool prepare to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, Reds fan Yemi Abiade tells us why Wednesday night's performance against Manchester City was the perfect way to bounce back from the Wembley disappointment and how that should set the tone for the remainder of the campaign.
Liverpool had the perfect response in our second game in four days against Manchester City on Wednesday night; a dazzling 3-0 home win full of ambition, enterprise and drive that avenged our League Cup final penalty shootout defeat last Sunday. After such a disappointing result at the weekend, the players must have felt they had a point to prove against the Barclays Premier League title contenders. But they also must have felt they had something to prove to manager Jürgen Klopp after his call for the boys to bounce back. And bounce back they most certainly did.
Wednesday night’s was a performance which was leaps and bounds above that of Sunday as we played a sluggish, haphazard City off the park to complete a league double over Manuel Pellegrini’s side. Players stepped up to the plate and produced moments of absolute quality. Adam Lallana’s opener was a cleverly-placed finish which left Joe Hart with no chance, James Milner timed his run to perfection for our second and Roberto Firmino’s strike to make it three oozed pure class.
Lallana and Milner were especially dangerous almost from the first whistle, harassing City throughout with well-timed runs and great movement off the ball and, with three goals in his last four Premier League games, Lallana is finally coming into his own and showing a consistency that has been desired from him since arriving at Anfield.
It was highly encouraging, firstly, to see the boys go at City with a high tempo and flair while remaining organised enough to keep the away side at bay, with Fernandinho the only threat posed to us. Secondly, that we were able to get 11 shots in, seven of which were on target, shows that our attacking unit is going in the right direction.
Victory in midweek means that the target of a top-four spot doesn’t appear to be impossible. One thing is for certain - it is performances like those on Wednesday which make Klopp’s reign so exciting. But, if we are to push further for a top-four finish, or even to move up higher than our current place in the table, we must now start winning when it matters, including at Crystal Palace today.
Alan Pardew’s Eagles have very much been a bogey team for us over the past couple of seasons, but they have been inconsistent over the past month and now is as good a time as any to get a win at Selhurst Park. The difficulty of going up against a team who have had a string of topsy-turvy results, however, is that you can never be sure which side is going to turn up and for that reason, it will prove a tough contest.
As always against Palace, restricting their width and movement on the wings will be crucial to containing the home side. Yannick Bolasie has always known how to get the better of our defenders with his unpredictable runs and on the ball, and the full-backs will need to bring their A-game. Should Lallana, Milner and Firmino continue in the same vein also, then we have a great opportunity to gain a result. To end the Palace jinx, but also to build on a glorious midweek result.
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