The latest 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of the Europa League leaves Liverpool on the brink of elimination from this competition too.
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Liverpool supporters will be keen to see a response from their players against Crystal Palace following the shock first-leg loss at home to Atalanta in the Europa League. It is not only the defeat but the 3-0 scoreline sent shockwaves across world football. The Reds were labelled by many as favourites in the competition, thanks to their superior squad quality and current form. The Merseyside outfit are one of the in-form sides in the division this season.
They have been playing at a high level from back-to-front with teams struggling to stop them. In fact, Liverpool have already won a trophy this campaign in the form of the Carabao Cup. At one stage, they were challenging for an unprecedented quadruple but soon those dreams faded away. First, Manchester United knocked them out of the FA Cup and followed it by holding Liverpool to a draw in the Premier League. This meant the Reds no longer top the league standings.
The latest 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of the Europa League leaves Liverpool on the brink of elimination from this competition too. With the Reds set to host Crystal Palace in the league on Sunday, they can take one positive from the defeat against the Italian outfit. Diogo Jota returned from an injury that kept him out for the last couple of months. He came from the bench in the second half. However, Trent Alexander-Arnold was unable to make a return despite being part of their squad.
Providing an update on them, Jurgen Klopp, quoted on the club’s website, said after the loss against Atalanta, “There was no chance to play Trent [against Atalanta]. He was on the bench because we were allowed to put 23 players into the squad. He had two sessions. Diogo didn’t have more really but the information from the medical department is [he was a] step ahead, so he can play a little bit longer.”
He added: “There is no pressure [to protect players returning from injury], it is just the situation. My job is now not the easiest job in the world, not the most difficult as well, but it’s about when you have players you need to make sure that you get them together on the pitch and that it works out somehow. In different line-ups we have played really good football this year, [but] today we didn’t. So that’s the reason why we lost. That can be the headline ‘It didn’t work out’, then it’s absolutely fine and right.”
Klopp also felt that the Portuguese attacker was “fine” during his cameo in the second half, as the Reds pushed hard to reduce the massive deficit. “We need them all and we need them all aggressive, fit, going for it, a bit angry, full of desire, stuff like this, and not so much dealing with your own situation, like, ‘I’ve no rhythm, I didn’t play for ages’, stuff like this. You have to try to avoid that. I think Diogo was absolutely fine tonight [for] 20 minutes, it helped him a lot and now we will see what we can do from there,” he explained.
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