Jurgen Klopp's reaction to Alexander-Arnold moment - 5 talking points from Liverpool vs. Palace

Yahoo

25-05-2025

Liverpool ended the season with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace is Mohamed Salah scored a late equalizer to cancel out Ismaila Sarr's first-half opener.
The result means Liverpool has not tasted victory since the title-clinching victory over Tottenham, but the game against Palace will not live too long in many fans' memory, as the day itself was all about the club's first title lift in front of supporters since 1990.
Nevertheless, here are the talking points from the game:
This was always going to be one of the talking points from the afternoon, and the signs that Trent Alexander-Arnold was in for a kinder afternoon than two weeks ago were there when he went to warm up in the first half, and was greeted by applause.
There were still chants for Steven Gerrard, which were clearly designed to reference the former captain's loyalty, but there were no boos for Liverpool's departing right-back.
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Both Arne Slot and Jurgen Klopp called for Liverpool's fans to stand down in the build-up to the game, and that probably had an impact as Alexander-Arnold was afforded a vitriol-free farewell.
A brilliant through ball for Darwin Nunez brought a toothy grin out of Jurgen Klopp, who was back at Anfield to take in the title celebrations.
When Mohamed Salah moved onto 27 goals and 17 assists in the Premier League at the beginning of March, it looked for all the world that he would go on and break the top-flight record for the most direct goal contributions in a season.
Salah's assist against West Ham on April 13 took him onto 45 direct goal contributions and ensured he claimed the record in 38-game Premier League seasons, but Alan Shearer and Andy Cole both managed 47 when league seasons comprised 42 games.
Salah scored against Tottenham at the end of April to move onto 46, and he had to wait until the closing minutes against Palace to move onto 47 and match the tallies of Shearer and Cole.
For the fifth game in a row — a run which stretches back to the title-clinching victory over Tottenham — the team found itself behind.
Dominic Solanke's early opener on April 27 ultimately counted for nothing as the Reds went on to hit five past Spurs, but since then, Liverpool has lost to Chelsea and Brighton, and fallen behind against Arsenal and Palace.
When all is said and done, today won't be remembered for what happened during the 90 minutes, but Slot can't be overly pleased with how his players finished the season.
Liverpool owner John Henry rarely attends games at Anfield but he was in the stands to see Arne Slot and his players lift the title. He was not treated to a particularly interesting encounter, but he clearly didn't make the journey solely to watch a dead rubber between Liverpool and Palace (which, coincidentally, is how next season will begin at Wembley).
Henry is not a popular owner with but he will do his cause no harm if he funds moves for Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to kick off Liverpool's transfer window.
Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott were all afforded second-half appearances, and there is no certainty that any of them will be at the club when next season starts.
Nunez will almost certainly leave, while Jota's injured record puts him at risk, and both Endo and Elliott have not had anywhere near as much game time as they would have liked.