Andoni Iraola does not need to be told what happened in Istanbul. Three times Fenerbahçe put the ball into the Liverpool box from a dead ball or a long throw, and three times Liverpool failed to deal with it. The 3-2 defeat ended their perfect start in the Champions League and dented a league record that nobody at Anfield is treating as proof of anything.
The reason the game was lost, Iraola told reporters at the Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium, was that his side conceded from three set pieces, as reported on Liverpool’s club channel.
“They are cheap goals. They are messy goals.”
Trey Nyoni’s 24th-minute opener had looked like the start of a controlled night. Mason Greenwood’s deflected free kick levelled it within five minutes, and after Alexander Isak came off the bench to put Liverpool back in front in the 69th, Archie Brown and Vedat Muriqi flipped it again inside ten minutes to hand the Reds their first defeat of their European campaign.
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Dirk Kuyt, Fenerbahçe’s interim manager, said his side had produced “a miracle” against a Liverpool team that still finished the night with 68% possession.
A thin squad heading south
The squad that turned up in Istanbul is the same one Iraola has to patch together for Selhurst Park. Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong are all out, and Ryan Gravenberch is a doubt, according to NBC Sports’ preview.
Five changes from the Arsenal defeat the weekend before had already drawn questions about rotation.
“I trust the squad,” Iraola said, pointing to a fixture schedule he said made it impossible to keep the same starting eleven week after week.
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Fifth in the table on 15 points from nine games, with four wins, three draws and two losses, Liverpool are not where a side of their resources expects to be in early November. Back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Fenerbahçe have left Iraola looking for a performance to steady the mood.
Sage’s Palace in the drop zone
Crystal Palace are in worse shape. Pierre Sage, appointed as Oliver Glasner’s replacement, has watched his side take seven points from nine games, with three straight defeats and a goal difference of minus twelve, per the NBC Sports table dated 2 November.
Jean-Philippe Mateta is suspended after a red card in the loss at Tottenham, and Chadi Riad, Ismaila Sarr and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all unavailable. NBC’s preview expects Liverpool to settle it on the break and tips a 1-3 away win.
Kick-off at Selhurst Park is at 2pm local time on Sunday, 8 November.
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