Crystal Palace 0-2 Liverpool: 4 key takeaways
Liverpool have continued their perfect start to the 2018/19 Premier League season after grinding out a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
In a competitive first half, Naby Keita's lovely ball created the first chance for Salah, who lobbed it way over the bar. Keita's inaccurate pass moments later gave Andros Townsend an opportunity to strike from long-range, something he hardly ever turns down and was unlucky as his shot beat Alisson but hit the bar.
On the verge of half-time, Mamadou Sakho was adjudged to have tripped up Mohamed Salah allowing James Milner to step up and slot it home.
In the second half, Luka Milivojevic came close to an equaliser with a curling free-kick that was beaten around the post by Alisson.
20 minutes later, with Salah clean through on goal, Aaron Wan-Bissaka brought the Egyptian down. It's was a cruel end to the game for the 20-year-old who was certainly a standout performer during the game.
In added time, Liverpool sealed the win after countering Palace's corner kick with Mane ending up with a tap in to make it 2-0.
Here are four key takeaways from the game:
#1 Van Dijk prevails again
Virgil Van Dijk, if not the best, is one of the great centre-backs the Premier League has to offer.
The Dutchman hardly gave the sturdy Christian Benteke a sniff, completing nine ariel duals over the match and eight clearances.
He was very assured in his ability to contribute to Liverpool's possession too, attempting the second most passes and doing so with a 92.4% accuracy.
Van Dijk is integral to Klopp's side, not only with his defensive know how but leadership to the young Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold.