Premier League — Matchweek 2 Recap (Day 3)

Crystal Palace (1) vs. Liverpool (1)

Following in the footsteps of the molten Chelsea/Spurs match, today’s game was similarly engulfed by emotion. Unfortunately for the Reds, their bank-breaking signee in Darwin Núñez was sent off in just his second Premier League outing for an immature response to ordinary antagonistic behavior by Palace’s Joachim Andersen. Adding insult to injury, the Uruguayan striker had previously bottled a few scoring opportunities, including an unlucky bounce off of the woodwork. Cool heads prevailed though, as the 10-man Liverpool side proceeded to quickly capitalize off of the frantic gameplay with a beautiful shot whipped in by Luis Díaz. Crystal Palace found touches to be scarce, but Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze carved up the Reds’ backline when they were given the opportunity to. Trent Alexander-Arnold had a particularly difficult time containing Eze’s quick feet and shifty dribbling, but for what the right-back lacked in defense, he surely compensated with his playmaking with a fantastic 5 key passes. Mohamed Salah also managed 8 key passes in just 28 total passes; complementing Trent well in the Liverpool attack. It has also been interesting to observe the increasing leniency allowed by referees for physical play, but it seems to result in harsher consequences for more egregious examples. This matchweek’s officiating has been a significant topic of debate between fans and pundits because of this, so it will be intriguing to watch how this style of rule enforcement continues.