August 20 2017

James Tomkins

Mike Scott gives his verdict on how the Crystal Palace players performed in Saturday's 1-0 loss.

Going for a record fourth consecutive away win against the Reds, Palace fans arrived at Liverpool on the back of a sobering hammering from new boys Huddersfield. The Eagles did end up going down 1-0, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game…

Wayne Hennessey - 8

The under-fire Welsh international looked like a different player from a week ago. After flapping at a cross early on that, somehow, Georginio Wijnaldum managed to put wide, Hennessey was virtually faultless throughout the game. A more direct approach than against Huddersfield suited the lanky keeper down the ground - his trademark enormous clearances working much better for him. As the second half wore on, he produced some exceptional saves, including a Roberto Firmino stop that would have sealed the game for Liverpool.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah - 7

The 19-year-old Man Utd loanee showed mere glimpses of his talent last week, but his strength and positioning awareness were plain to see this time around. The home side fancied their chances down the left in the first half, but for all the possession, produced little end product and TFM had a lot to do with that.

Scott Dann - 7

A much improved performance from Dann was characterised by his commanding of a much more compact defence. The tactics employed by Frank de Boer seemed to be much more in his comfort zone - and he rarely looked too troubled. Towards the end, as Palace chased an equaliser, he was stuck up front alongside Benteke as a target man - and caused them some issues.

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James Tomkins - 8

Jairo Riedewald made way for the return of Tomkins, who only had a quarter-of-an-hour run out against Huddersfield. The ex-West Ham man rewarded his manager’s faith with a really strong performance. Liverpool had little joy down his flank and even the pace of Salah, who came on in the second half, wasn’t enough to cause too many issues for him.

Joel Ward - 8

Totally out of his comfort zone in the season opener - and netting an own goal to boot - Ward was in a different class in the team’s first away fixture. Keeping much closer to the back three and without the expectation to be making runs up for crosses, he looked self assured and was excellent cover for the back line. At times, he and PVA were playing as the 4th and 5th men in a five-man defence - which worked well.

Patrick van Aanholt - 6

Starting again in the wing back position ahead of Schlupp, PVA had another relatively anonymous game by the standards he set last season. Covering when the side were in defensive mode, he looked less keen on the role than Ward - and going forward you would hope for more. He had few corners with which to work his magic, although his delivery was improved on last weekend.

Jason Puncheon - 5

A tough day at the office for Punch. He gets his critics - often unfairly - for losing the ball too often, but was turned over a few times by the rampaging Liverpool midfield during their more intensive attacking periods. A couple of times he seemed to be lost upfield as the Reds launched waves of attacks. James McArthur (6) replaced him on 71 minutes - and proceeded to do what he does best - run after everything, just in case.

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Luka Milivojevic - 6

After the substitution last week and scenes of him holding his leg, it was heartening as the week progressed to see Luka was fit to play. However, de Boer still doesn’t seem to have quite worked out how to use him properly, since returning him from his less favoured position in the back three. A rare mis-kick led to the goal - and he looked absolutely livid with himself. Subbed for Sullay Kaikai (7) on 77 minutes, who looked very sharp and gave the Liverpool defence some serious problems. In Zaha’s absence, he may well be getting some decent game time.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek - 8

Two games in, no points and no goals, but Loftus-Cheek has still managed to shine in both anyway. In the front three for the whole game this time, his authority as a creative outlook was a beautiful thing for the Palace fans to see. A lovely run, trickery and a pull back of perfection put Benteke in for Palace’s finest move of the game. He seems to cover more ground than anyone else on the pitch too.

Andros Townsend - 6

Moments of brilliance in between moments of anonymity characterised a difficult game for Townsend, playing his first game under De Boer that didn’t involve filling in at right wing back. He didn’t seem to get the ball often enough to create crosses. He invariably did pass his man when he did get to run with the ball - it just needed to happen more.

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Christian Benteke - 6

Early on, it was evident that the slow passing game Palace adopted against Huddersfield had been tweaked to play some quick balls up to the big man too - and he won a series of early headers that set the tone for the game. Often isolated, his hold up play still needs to be taken advantage of by De Boer - at the moment, he’s often too far from the nearest red and blue shirt to play his natural game. Missed the best chance of the game for Palace.