IT’S BEGINN TO LOOK A LIKE LIVERP NING A LOT POOL
Time for goodwill to all men? Not this ruthless Mersey machine that cam
THE unpredictable scorelines in this crazy Premier League season hit new heights at Selhurst Park.
But any uncertainty over the clear favourites for the title is now over after f a significant f seven days for Liverpool.
The wake-up call at Craven Cottage was followed by a dramatic defeat of Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham pretenders and then this record away win, which also saw the return of Alex OxladeChamberlain (with manager Jurgen Klopp, right).
No wonder Kop left- back Andy Robertson hailed victory at Selhurst Park as the “perfect” away performance. Anfield boss
Klopp l was keen k to play l down d the h importance of being Christmas No.1 after only 14 games. But this past week feels like a watershed one for the defending champions. maybe even decisive.
You would not have seen this result coming as Liverpool trailed Fulham at half-time just a week ago. Neither, perhaps, would Crystal Palace after holding Tottenham in their last home game. But after four consecutive away draws prior to this mauling, li Robertson Rb revealed ldh the Reds are now even using the dreaded lunchtime kick-off to their advantage. . Init Indeed on Saturday it took them only 129 9 seconds to take the lead through Takumi Minamino.
“We wanted to be e ruthless,” said Robertson. bhad “Palace had also played Sunday, nday Wednesday, Saturday and they are maybe b not as used d to it a are so we wanted to come the bloc blocks fast. We wa to c come out full o er ergy and hope c catch them a bit cold and managed to do with Taki’s goa “It was just a b being ruthles eve everything we Wheth Whether it was cou pressing, defending, taking
chances, we just tried d to do d it all ll over the park
“It was as close to a perfect performance as you can get away from home.
“The seven goals will be concentrated on, but everyone was buzzing about a clean sheet away from home.
“And the best sight of all was to see Ox back on the pitch because he has been out for the full part of the season and looked really sharp coming on so we have added ddd an extra b body, d which is great.”
After the early opener, Palace had opportunities to create clear chances without showing the killer touch. Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson and doubles from Robert Firmino and sub Mo Salah showed them how it’s done.
“They were so clinical,” admitted Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic. “They had eight shots and scored seven goals. They’re a very dangerous team 0-6 from f the h counter-attack k and d they punished every mistake. That’s the level of the Premier League.”
Robertson, who provided the pass for Firmino’s first goal in a breathtaking counter- attack, now has 28 assists since the start of the 2018-19 season, the same as Kevin De Bruyne.
“Hopefully there are many more to come,” said the defender. “More importantly I hope for many more clean sheets.”