Liverpool made the most of a bad job as Crystal Palace nearly got a point at Anfield. A Sadio Mane second-half striker gave the reds all three points.

The Merseyside club had to wait until the 73^rd minute for the opening goal. The ball falling luckily into Mane’s path in the box after Luka Milivojevic’s mistake to score.

The big story from the game though was that once again Philippe Coutinho was left out of the side with his move to Barcelona still on the cards.

Meanwhile at Palace Wifried Zaha was left out of the side due to injury, and Frank De Boer’s men were going to give their new system another go.

For the most part Palace played ok, however Liverpool as expected were the dominant side having most of the possession and efforts on goal.

Christian Benteke missing Palace’s big chance early in the second half, blazing over the bar from 10 yards out.

After the game Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he was pleased with the win, but would have liked to have seen his side be more ruthless with their chances.

He said: “It was a hard job to do. I have no idea how much we had the ball but it was a lot. We need to be creative, we knew that we had to be a bit more patient. They were quite deep and defended with a lot of legs.

“I would have liked to score more, but it wasn’t a clear situation for us. We had other chances, but it was difficult, and I’m completely happy with how the boys did the job today.”

Meanwhile De Boer could see positives from the defeat and believes his side were unlucky to lose.

De Boer commented: “I think we were very concentrated, and one unlucky touch from Luka we conceded the goal. That’s a pity, but I said to my players if we show this spirit every week I am confident. I’m happy with the spirit, not happy with the result, but I think we can build from here.”

Next up for Liverpool is a European tie against Hoffenheim on Wednesday. The reds host the German side in their Champions League play-off round second leg, holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg. According to bettingtips4you.com, backing Liverpool to win the home leg would be a banker of a win.

Palace are also in action in midweek and face Ipswich Town at Selhurst Park in the Carabao Cup second round on Tuesday night.