Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says he wouldn’t swap Alisson Becker for anyone after the goalkeeper performed heroics for Liverpool vs Crystal Palace. The Brazilian was in top form.
Liverpool started their win over Crystal Palace wonderfully. In fact, that opening 35 minutes was about as good as it gets. The Reds pressed perfectly, moved the ball quickly and looked really inventive.
But things did slow down. Liverpool were making mistakes by the end of the half and struggled quite badly to establish control in the second. Early goals from Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were enough to secure a win, though, with a late penalty sealing things.
However, Liverpool needed more than just their goals here. They relied heavily on Alisson Becker, in the end, with the Brazilian pulling off some fantastic saves.
Oxlade-Chamberlain paid tribute after the 90, saying he wouldn’t swap his Liverpool teammate for anyone.
Alisson shines for Liverpool vs Crystal Palace
“Teams aren’t successful without a really good goalkeeper,” he told Sky Sports. “He’s bailed us out a good few times in the past and today he’s had a few moments.
“It’s our job to not rely on him as much but if you ever need, we haven’t got anyone we’d rather want than him.”
This was a fine performance from Alisson. There were three or four outstanding saves, from correctly reading a back-heel to judging a Conor Gallagher lob wonderfully well to keep him out.
Liverpool needed those saves, especially in the second half. After Manchester City dropped points yesterday, a win here felt absolutely vital and certainly feels as though Alisson was the chief reason the Reds got their points here.
Jurgen Klopp mentioned ‘an intense week’ for the drop-off in performance here and there does seem to be some truth to that. Fortunately, Liverpool were able to rely on some world-class quality in goal to make up for it.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
