Where did it go wrong for Liverpool against Crystal Palace?

First HalfIt was a confident start for visitors as they pressed Liverpool high up the pitch, forcing a few errors from Mignolet – whose distribution was poor. However, the Reds grew into the game gradually, passing the ball around with conviction while pushing the visitors back. But, in the 21st minute Palace drew first blood through Bolasie, whose bullet finish was deadly at the Kop end. The goal should have been avoided as far as Liverpool are concerned, as Alberto Moreno lost the ball in a dangerous central area before the resulting cross was cushioned into the path of Lucas by Emre Can, and the Brazilian lost out to Bolasie. Liverpool then had plenty of possession, but they were not decisive enough and it seemed like they were unsure as to whether to play wide and put crosses in or go more narrow in hope of breaking Palace down as they dropped deeper and deeper. The full-backs were solid defensively, but their attacking contributions were, again, not up to scratch. Nathaniel Clyne and Moreno needed to put more crosses in rather than looking for intelligent movement from forward players all the time. Eventually, the equaliser came in the 42nd minute when Clyne, on the overlap, put in a good low cross which was dummied by Adam Lallana and Benteke and deposited home by Coutinho. All in all, after first 22 minutes or so Liverpool were the better side.Second HalfIt was a bit deja vu start in the second half with Palace again, early in the half, trying to press Liverpool higher up the pitch, but home side dealt with that really well and were again in control of possession and the match. The Reds in second half though, were better in terms of creating chances as they played wide using overlapping runs from the full-backs, stretching Palace to their limits. Chances came thick and fast but were not taken, and Benteke probably had the best chance of the match yet couldn’t hit the target with his header. Liverpool looked more decisive in the final third as the game progressed and with 25 minutes still to play Klopp brought on Roberto Firmino for Can – a forward player replacing a midfielder. This changed Liverpool’s shape from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1 with Lucas the only midfielder protecting the back line. It was a risky substitution from the German that came, perhaps, a bit too early. Palace made use of it whenever they had the ball and Wilfried Zaha and Bolasie ran at their full-backs  with intent, often exposing Lucas. A soft corner was conceded by Liverpool in the 82nd minute, the reason being one on one situation between the winger and the full-back, and the resulting set play was headed home by Scott Dann, who was surprisingly unmarked in the box – Firmino was supposed to mark him. After that some good defending from Damien Delaney and Dann, who had excellent games, ensured that Liverpool head into another international break on the back of a loss. Crystal Palace continue to be their bogey team.I would like to stress on the point where Klopp made that attacking change by bringing Firmino on for Can thatI thought this played it into Palace’s hands, as they knew Liverpool are vulnerable in the midfield. This allowed Zaha and Bolasie to run at their full-backs in one on one situations.Now as we see, Lucas is in trouble here and with the pace Palace have on counter attack in their wing players, it was destined that there will be problems for Liverpool’s backline with little protection. When Palace had the ball, there was lots of space for Zaha and Bolasie to run into and at Clyne and Moreno. Lucas is in two minds here, whether to block the run of Yohan Cabaye or go on to cover the full-backs. This is where Liverpool lost the plot, as Klopp threw  Firmino on a bit too early. Maybe he could have delayed that substitution by 8-10 minutes. Eventually, Firmino was the culprit in conceding that second goal when he left Dann unmarked.Overall, it was a defeat that could have been avoided by Liverpool, whose frail defence was once again an issue. Full-backs have to cross with greater accuracy to get Benteke in the game, while Benteke, on the other hand, needs to take his chances.This article was submitted via our new Write For Us feature. Think you can do better? Submit your own article via the link below, and make sure you follow @FFC_WFU on Twitter for #RealOpinions…[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]