Full Time
Liverpool won 3-1 at Selhurst Park, Alexis Mac Allister heading them in front from a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick before half-time, Florian Wirtz doubling the lead in the 54th minute and Alexander Isak adding a third in the 89th. Palace had the better of the early exchanges and hit the crossbar, but didn't make it count, and Eddie Nketiah's stoppage-time penalty was a consolation and nothing more. Alisson also had to make a couple of good saves to keep Palace out early on. That's a fine Matchweek 10 for Liverpool, who go to 18 points and up to 4th; Palace stay on 8 points, slip to 19th and are in real trouble, with only Manchester United below them.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Crystal Palace are 18th on 8 points from nine games, with a goal difference of minus 10, which is the worst in the league. Liverpool are 5th on 15 points, so they are the ones with Champions League places in sight and Palace are the ones looking nervously at the bottom three. A Palace win would be a proper shock; a heavy defeat and the gap to safety starts to look like a problem.
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2Palace and Liverpool have history that is more recent than you might think. Palace beat Liverpool on penalties in the 2025 Community Shield, which is a very fancy way of saying they have shown they can handle this opposition. Liverpool have usually had the better of the league meetings over the years, so Palace fans will be hoping their cup-style bravery turns up on a Sunday afternoon at Selhurst Park.
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3Watch Alexander Isak, Liverpool's record signing at a reported 125 million pounds. That is a price tag that comes with questions attached, and he has had injury interruptions along the way. A goal against a Palace side leaking more than two a game would go a long way to quieting the noise, so it is the one thing worth keeping an eye on if you only half-watch.
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4The subplot is Palace's defence. They have shipped 20 goals in nine games, the most in the division, and a Liverpool side that has scored just 10 in nine is not exactly a goal machine either. Something has to give: either Liverpool's attack finds its form against a leaky back line, or Palace stop the rot. Confirmed team news was not available at the time of writing, so check the line-ups before kick-off.
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5The hook is the mismatch in form on paper against a fixture that never reads like paper. Liverpool have drawn three of their nine and are only 2 goals better off than they are conceding, so this is not the all-conquering side people remember. If you want one sentence for the pub, it is this: the 5th-placed team is 7 points clear of the 18th-placed team, and it is still not a foregone conclusion.
Team Talking Points
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1Palace go into the international break bottom of the Premier League after a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. Eddie Nketiah's stoppage-time penalty was a consolation, not a comeback. Being bottom in November isn't fatal, but it is the sort of thing fans prefer you don't mention first.
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2Manager Pierre Sage is under serious pressure, and the reports this week say his time could be up. Former Brentford and Spurs boss Thomas Frank is the bookies' favourite to replace him, with The Telegraph naming him as the frontrunner. Nothing's official yet, so 'I hear Frank's in the frame' sounds well-informed, while 'Sage has gone' might be a bit premature.
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3This slump has been building. A 5-0 hammering by Brighton a few weeks ago is the result Palace fans really don't want to relive, mostly because it was Brighton, their fiercest rivals. If you bring it up, expect a long stare.
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4There were glimmers against Liverpool. Jørgen Strand Larsen had a goal chalked off for offside by VAR and Yeremy Pino hit the crossbar, so it wasn't a total surrender. Palace fans will tell you the margins have gone against them, and on Sunday they had a point.
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5Don't forget this is the club that won the FA Cup in 2025, their first major trophy ever. Going from Wembley glory to the bottom of the table in about 18 months is a very Premier League kind of whiplash. Mention the Cup win and you'll cheer up any Palace fan instantly.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Whoever ends up in the Palace dugout, the first job is just stopping the leaks. They're not as bad as the table says, but they're getting close.
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Avoid saying
"Just bring Roy Hodgson back again" — it's been said as a joke so many times that Palace fans have stopped laughing, and the man has done his bit for the club twice over already.
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1Liverpool won 3-1 at bottom side Crystal Palace on Sunday and climbed back into the top four. Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak scored. Coming after a sticky run, it was the result Andoni Iraola needed going into the break.
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2Wirtz's goal was his first in the league this season. For a player who cost a small fortune, that's been a running joke among rival fans. Liverpool supporters will insist his all-round play was always more important than goals, and they're partly right.
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3The international break hasn't been kind. Virgil van Dijk played the full 90 at Selhurst Park, then pulled out of the Netherlands squad, reportedly after playing through a minor problem for weeks. Dominik Szoboszlai picked up a knee sprain in the same game and is a doubt for Hungary. Neither is a disaster yet, but both are worth watching.
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4Alisson was named man of the match at Palace with several big saves, and he was unlucky to concede a stoppage-time penalty. That's a reminder that Liverpool's win was less comfortable than the scoreline suggests.
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5The fixtures coming up are huge. Manchester United visit Anfield on 22 November, and over the next few weeks a Merseyside derby against a high-flying Everton and a game against Chelsea follow. A month from now we'll know whether Iraola's Liverpool are genuine contenders or just good at beating teams at the bottom.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Wirtz finally scored in the league, so now everyone can stop asking. The real test is United, the derby and Chelsea in the next few weeks.
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Avoid saying
"Liverpool are nothing without Klopp" — he's been gone since 2024, they've won the league since, and it suggests your football knowledge stopped updating several seasons ago.