Premier League 2018/19: 3 Reasons for Liverpool's victory over Crystal Palace

Liverpool extended their seven-point lead over Manchester City with a 4-3 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield. The Reds made three changes which saw Naby Keita come in for Xherdan Shaqiri, James Milner for Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Joel Matip for Gini Wijnaldum.

Jurgen Klopp's men had plenty of possession early on in the game but failed to create problems to Crystal Palace's defense. A breakaway through the left wing saw Wilfried Zaha pull the ball back to Andres Townsend who got an insane power to drill it past Alisson.

Teams headed back into the tunnel for the half time with a slender lead to the visitors. However, the Reds looked to have stamped the authority from minute one in the second half. Van Dijk's shot ricochets off a Palace player and kindly fell to Mohamed Salah who had a tricky touch to find the back of the net.

Nine minutes later, Roberto Firmino's goal was enough to lead the game. But, James Tomkins free header from a corner saw the scores becoming equal parity. Fabinho found James Milner with an excellent ball who got something of it, but the goalkeeper Julian Speroni made a bigger fuss out of it and lost the ball. The Egyptian was there once again to tap the ball in.

During the stoppage time, Sadio Mane's goal assured yet another victory despite Max Meyer pulling one back in the dying seconds of the game. At the end of the day in what turned out to be a totally bizarre performance defensively, Jurgen Klopp will be massively relieved with all three points against one of the teams in the league which can cause disruption.

In this piece, we shall look at three reasons why Liverpool were able to win this encounter against Crystal Palace.

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#1 Liverpool were lucky throughout the game

Liverpool FC v Crystal Palace - Premier League

Unlike every other season, Liverpool have some luck flowing this campaign. The late strike from Daniel Sturridge against Chelsea, a blunder from Pickford in the Merseyside Derby, and today's game proved that the Reds have not been misfortuned this term.

It was Crystal Palace who had an excellent half and took the lead through Townsend in the first half. However, with some first two goals were deflected and the third one was mishandled by the third choice goalkeeper Julian Speroni.

It was one among those games where Liverpool did not have much control with the ball. The defensive part of the game looked lacklustre throughout the game, thanks to constant trouble cost by Wilfried Zaha who tormented the makeshift right-back, James Milner.

#2 Crystal Palace could not cope Liverpool in the starting stages of the second half

Salah scores the third goal

Crystal Palace were clearly the better team in the first half. Entering the second half, they were blown away by the intensity of Liverpool who scored two goals within seven minutes to take the lead.

Even though they hit back through James Tomkins through the set piece, the Reds regained their confidence by finding the back of the net. More often this season, Liverpool have been settling for 1-0 to grind out results. But, that was not the case against Palace because they kept on asking questions until the end.

The midfield combo of Kouyate and McArthur did not allow the ball to pass them in the first half, but they were totally nullified in the second half because the hosts kept on pressing with high intensity to win back the ball. James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho were decent alongside with the full-backs and wingers who faired enough to claim a point at least.

The former Liverpool manager was able to shock the blue part of Manchester City with a 3-2 win at the Etihad, but Liverpool did everything right in the offensive part of the game. Even though Crystal Palace lost the game, Roy Hodgson will have plenty of positives to game from this game.

#3 Jurgen Klopp's tactical tweak in the second half

Jordan Henderson and Jurgen Klopp after the victory

Jordan Henderson was the only Liverpool midfielder with robust energy in the first half and tried to link up with the forwards. In fairness, Fabinho also had a decent game alongside him. But, the forwards did not drop deep during the first part of the game which caused the sense of another frustrating night for the Anfield faithful.

But, Jurgen Klopp's tactical tweak worked for the hosts who went all out attack in the second half. Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were dropping deep to collect the ball from the midfielders which in turn paid off for the Reds. They got their rhythm back flowing coupled with excellent passing which caused havoc to the opponent's defence.

The high pressing and hungerness showed in the early part of the second half won the game for Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's half time team talk has surely had an effect in this game as the table toppers were able to claim a victory at the end by outscoring Roy Hodgson's side.