Liverpool simultaneously never looked that likely to score a second at Selhurst Park nor concede one to level things. Even when Alisson Becker went off with an injury , leaving the Reds needing to rely on Viteszlav Jaros because Caoimhin Kelleher was ill , there was only really the Eberechi Eze chance that Crystal Palace could have capitalized from.
Alisson had got down well a couple of times to deny Ismaila Sarr and then Eddie Nketiah but Crystal Palace never looked that much a threat. That should perhaps be no major surprise, given that it was forced into losing star man Michael Olise during the summer, who has already looked a hit for Bayern Munich . His replacement, Ismaila Sarr, was well looked after by Kostas Tsimikas .
While Liverpool should have been able to go more in for the kill to make things certain, albeit not knowing that Alisson would pick up an injury issue, it never looked too likely to be in any major peril. None is better than little and it got the job done, just, but nonetheless, things could have been even more straightforward.
It is perhaps something that we should expect to get used to. Liverpool backs itself to keep clean sheets, having now racked up five in the Premier League, and its style is more about keeping possession and dictating things on its own terms. Virgil van Dijk was excellent and the rest of his defense also played their part.
There was limited action in either penalty box as a result of Liverpool how was playing and the Reds had only five shots on target (Crystal Palace only mustered four). Liverpool had just shy of 70 per cent of the ball and kept things very calm and while the host relied on a moment near the end to fall its way to salvage a point, the Reds simply backed themselves not to concede one.
That is the Arne Slot way and how he wants things to be: calm, not gung-ho; clinical, not necessarily exciting. With his captain Virgil van Dijk at the heart of things and able to control everything (and Alisson too when he is fit), he can rely on his backline to keep the opposition to nil.
Perhaps, as a result, we need to get accustomed to that and we may well see if again in the future — not least with a short turnaround from the midweek Champions League clash and then a lunchtime kick-off the following weekend. That kind of showing, in that context, makes particular sense.
Where last season things would have seen more end-to-end and frantic in periods, Liverpool largely kept control of its own destiny this time around. It is working too, given Slot has now moved onto nine wins from a possible 10. Even against Nottingham Forest , Liverpool was unfortunate with a brilliant Callum Hudson-Odoi strike flying into the net. That game could easily have been 0-0 — not an amazing result, clearly, but one that would have ensured an unbeaten start.
Hitting the next international break top of the table, though, no matter the frustration at that outlier home defeat, is a hugely positive start for Liverpool in its new era. This kind of performance, while not the most enthralling and slightly risky in its own way., might be something that is viewed as the way forward.
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