(Football news) Liverpool survived a few scares to defeat Bologna 2-0 in midweek, while the flightless Eagles became Everton’s first victims of the Premier League season last time out.
Whether Arne Slot will ever achieve the Merseyside fame of Jurgen Klopp, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley only the coming years will tell, but the Dutchman has already achieved a feat that not a single one of his Reds predecessors could manage.
By masterminding a two-goal triumph over Bologna on Wednesday evening, where Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah netted either side of the half-time whistle, Slot became the first-ever Liverpool manager to win eight of his first nine matches in charge across all competitions.
The ex-Feyenoord boss admitted that Liverpool did not have it all their own way against the spirited Rossoblu, and the same was true against Wolverhampton Wanderers in last weekend’s Premier League contest, but a 2-1 triumph was enough to send the Reds to the summit.
Victory on Saturday lunchtime would temporarily move Liverpool four points clear of both Arsenal and Manchester City in the gold medal position, and Slot’s crop have now won each of their last five games on the bounce, netting 15 goals at an average rate of three per match.
Not since their title-winning 2019-20 season have the visitors won their first four away games of a Premier League season, and Slot could now become just the fourth manager in competition history to prevail in his first four away fixtures, after Felipe Scolari, John Gregory and Bobby Gould.
Speaking of managers who made a phenomenal impact upon their arrival in the Premier League, Crystal Palace were a team revitalised under the wing of Europa League-winning boss Oliver Glasner last season, but the Eagles have evidently had their wings clipped over the summer.
Last weekend’s trip to fellow winless side Everton appeared to be a prime opportunity for Palace to finally get off the mark for the new season, and Marc Guehi’s 10th-minute opener set Glasner’s men on their way to that objective, but the determined Dwight McNeil turned the tide with a quickfire second-half brace.
In spite of Palace’s lowly standing in the Premier League table – the Eagles sit 18th, below Leicester City on goals scored – Glasner’s job is not believed to be under any immediate threat thanks to his credit in the bank from last season, as well as EFL Cup beatings of Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers.
However, the historical omens are not promising for Palace, who have only ever failed to win their first seven games of a Premier League season four times, and they were relegated from the top flight in three of those instances, most recently in 2004-05.
If there is any crumb of encouragement for the Selhurst Park faithful, it is undoubtedly their shock 1-0 Anfield triumph in April’s Premier League showdown, but it has been nearly a full decade since Liverpool last lost a top-flight game on Crystal Palace’s turf, a 3-1 defeat in November 2014.
Also read: Newcastle United and all about their match against Everton in EPL
