London: Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points thanks to Diogo Jota's winner in a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday. Arne Slot has now won nine of his first 10 games since succeeding Jurgen Klopp, but will be frustrated that the visitors invited a late onslaught from the winless Eagles. Victory also came at a cost for Liverpool as goalkeeper Alisson Becker limped off in the closing stages ahead of a much more testing run of fixtures after the international break.
Defeat leaves Palace still in the bottom three with just three points from their opening seven games. Slot's seamless start to succeeding saw him become the first Liverpool manager to win eight of his first nine games after beating Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday. However, the Dutchman has been quick to point out that tougher tests lie ahead of his side's Premier League title credentials.
Liverpool face Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City in their next six Premier League games. Slot saw both sides of his team at Selhurst Park as they failed to make the most of their first-half dominance, but held out at the back for a fifth clean sheet in seven league games. Palace did have the ball in the net inside 30 seconds but Eddie Nketiah had strayed offside before flicking in Ismaila Sarr's cross.
Liverpool quickly took control and the lead after just nine minutes when Jota stole in ahead of Marc Guehi and Trevoh Chalobah to prod in Cody Gakpo's low.