John Aldridge
Saturday’s win at Crystal Palace was a big three points, even if we didn’t play well.
As much as I was pleased with the result, it is hard to not be concerned by Liverpool’s away form at present.
"Aside from the games at Newcastle and Tottenham earlier this season, we have not been at the races away from Anfield.
"You can’t keep going away from home and not playing well because you will eventually slip up.
By contrast, we are brilliant at Anfield and have won all our games. Hopefully that will continue, but we need to improve when we’re not on home soil.
"It is a bit of a worry because when we play the so-called lesser sides, everyone uses the same tactics that we struggle to deal with. We have to find a way to counteract that.
"It was great to see Mohamed Salah score his 200th goal for the club at the weekend, although this was from a vintage display from the Egyptian.
"Our forwards were not great against Sheffield United and it was the same on Saturday at Palace - they went missing
"The attacking players have been great for us all season because they’ve been scoring goals left, right and centre, but it took a deflection to put us ahead at Selhurst Park and a goal from midfield to win the game.
Darwin Nunez has now gone eight games without a goal for Liverpool and the one thing that concerns me is he didn’t really get any chances in the final third versus Palace.
"He should have scored at Sheffield United, but at least he was getting into the right positions. When you’re not in the right place as a forward, that’s when there is a problem. If you’re getting the chances, the goals will come.
The way we play football does not suit Nunez 100 per cent, especially away from home when you have to mix it up against the lesser sides.
"Another thing that disappointed me about him at the weekend was the number of times he was offside. It was poor.
"You should play on the shoulder and not make silly runs because you want to get the goal. He is going too early and has to be patient and know when to run.
"We’ve then got Gakpo, who plays the complete opposite way by coming deep and holding the ball up. It’s good we’ve got different options
"I don’t think the referee had a great game on Saturday, to be honest. Everyone saw the foul on Wataru Endo in the build-up to the penalty Palace were awarded in the first half, but referee Andy Madley was somehow the only one who didn’t.
"Thankfully VAR did its job and stepped in by telling Madley to go to the pitchside monitor.
"Even when he was told to review the incident, he had to watch it back about 50 times before chalking it off as he didn’t want to change his original decision. It was both bizarre and deeply frustrating.
As for the red card for Jordan Ayew, Palace can have no complaints.
"He first blocked Van Dijk as he attempted to take a quick free-kick and then took out Harvey Elliott as he looked to break with the ball.
"Roy Hodgson was furious about this decision after the game, but it is Ayew he should be having a go at and not the referee.
"It was a stupid thing to do and Ayew only has himself to blame. Palace were unfortunate to be on the losing side, but they can have no complaints as regards the sending off.
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