Wasteful Crystal Palace fail to punish Klopp’s nervous Liverpool in draw

After the week Liverpool have been through, Jürgen Klopp will just be pleased that it is over. A nervous performance following their embarrassment against Real Madrid in the Champions League was perhaps to be expected but Klopp will be thankful for Crystal Palace’s wastefulness as they squandered a hatful of opportunities that were handed to them on a plate by some at times slapstick defending in the first half.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, in particular, endured a torrid opening 45 minutes as Jean-Philippe Mateta spurned two golden opportunities for Patrick Vieira’s side to record their first win of 2023 at the ninth attempt. Liverpool did improve slightly after the break, with Mohamed Salah striking the crossbar, yet they will have to improve significantly to salvage anything from this campaign.

Klopp had urged his players to “fight back” after the 5-2 mauling at Anfield in midweek that realistically ended any chance of silverware this season. With Tottenham only seven points ahead in fourth place before their trip to south London, the Liverpool manager knew this was their opportunity to regain some of the momentum from successive wins against Everton and Newcastle.

While there was no place in the matchday squad for Darwin Núñez, who was still suffering from the shoulder injury he sustained last week, Joël Matip, James Milner, Naby Keïta and Diogo Jota all returned to the starting lineup. Palace were unchanged after conceding two points against Brentford at the death last weekend, with Wilfried Zaha still not back from a hamstring injury and Eberechi Eze left on the bench despite his goal.

Their last win back on New Year’s Eve against Bournemouth was also the last time Palace had met opposition in the bottom half of the