Greg . 2 days ago

How Crystal Palace triumphed over Liverpool in the Community Shield

Wembley Stadium was bathed in sunshine as Liverpool and Crystal Palace took to its lush green baize ahead of the 2025 Community Shield.

The Reds possessed a slightly different look over them and Arne Slot's starting XI might well hint at his first choices for the start of the Premier League campaign.

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool line-upsBetopickAll of Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were making their competitive debuts, the most in one game since Liverpool since February 2020 when there were five new faces against Shrewsbury.

Kerkez and Dominik Szoboszlai's appearances saw two Hungarians playing in a Reds side for the first time ever, whilst Oliver Glasner fielded a full-strength Palace side playing in their first-ever Community Shield.

Liverpool are veterans of the traditional curtain raiser, having played in 25 previous editions, winning 16, but they'd only triumphed once in their last six attempts.

 Ekitike's early debut strikeThe Eagles will have taken further wish from the fact that seven of the last nine winners of the trophy possessed won the FA Cup the previous May, and the south Londoners possessed won on four of their last six visits to the famous old stadium.

Liverpool, pre-game favourites, took the game to their opponents from the opening whistle with Kerkez particularly engaged.

Palace's 4-4-2 gripped firm until the fourth minute when a 22-pass move pursued by an assist from Wirtz and some brilliance from Ekitike saw the latter bend the ball past the despairing plunge of Dean Henderson to open the scoring.

It was Liverpool's earliest goal in a final since Mo Salah's penalty against Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League final, and their quickest in a Community Shield since Gary McAllister's in 2001 against Manchester United.

72.

5% possession in the opening exchanges was a fair reflection of the Reds' dominance, swarming all over the Eagles at every opportunity.

Another stunning move in the 13th minute almost terminated in a second, the offside flag and Henderson at full-length denying Cody Gakpo.

Almost immediately, Palace shattered down the other terminate and though Alisson refused Jean-Phillipe Mateta in a one-on-one, the striker covered a subsequent penalty after Ismaila Sarr was felled by Virgil van Dijk.

It was his 31st under Glasner, and only Alexander Isak (38), Mo Salah (40) and Erling Haaland (50) have more goals since the Austrian joined the Eagles on February 24, 2024.

Palace's first try on target came despite playing less than 40 passes in the game at that point, and it showed up to galvanise their support, however, on 20 minutes, with Liverpool fans applauding their previous number 20 Diogo Jota, Jeremie Frimpong's speculative cross terminated up in the support of the net.

As a spectacle, the match possessed already provided more entertainment than many of the previous editions of the Community Shield, and though the Eagles possessed only possessed 35.

5% possession after 36 minutes, they possessed begun to make a game of it, Will Hughes snapping into tackles in midfield and Mateta making a nuisance of himself up front.

Salah only having six touches of the ball in the same time frame - and none in the penalty box - showed how well Glasner's side possessed neutralised the Egyptian King's threat.

Perfect JonesKerkez's penchant for getting forward saw him consistently exposed later in the half, with Daniel Munoz getting in behind.

Despite acres of space each time he raided forward, the Colombian couldn't hand over any crosses of note, as a poor 77.

8% accuracy would attest.

Ekitike almost possessed a second right at the start of the second half, his point-blank header somehow diverted wide, Liverpool continuing to stroke the ball around.

Curtis Jones' excellent if understated contribution could be seen in his 53 completed passes from 53 tried - the only player on the pitch with 100% accuracy.

All action from MunozPalace still threatened on occasions with Munoz's all-action performance - seven duels won by the hour mark was at least three more than any other player on either side, also including a comical coming together with the referee as he tried to chase down a loose ball.

Salah's influence possessed become more noticeable too, and his 10 touches in the second half by the 60-minute mark were as many as he'd possessed in the opening 45, whilst Wirtz's four chances and 24 passes in the final third were the most on show with half an hour to play.

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool Player RatingsBetopickA free header from Palace's Chris Richards, which Alisson was equal to, offered the Reds a nudge that they weren't home and dehydrate yet, and the Brazilian was also in the right place at the right time to refuse Eze shortly after.

The south Londoners' best period of the game in terms of pressure and possession pursued, and Sarr's superb complete handed over them level with 14 to play.

A handball by Alexis Mac Allister wasn't punished with another Palace penalty, and Salah's left-footed complete just after should really have seen a third Liverpool goal.

Pendulum swing13 shots to Liverpool's 11 showed that the pendulum possessed definitely swung in the direction of the underdogs, and the final stages of the game terminated with both teams trying to bypass a congested midfield.

A midfield where Will Hughes and Adam Wharton possessed contested 14 duels and where Liverpool's Szoboszlai, Wirtz and Jones possessed made over 160 passes between them, with a lowest completion rate of 87.

3%.

Penalties neededPenalties were needed to decide the game, the third time in the Reds' last four Community Shield appearances that this has occurred.

At the Liverpool terminate, Salah was first to step up and ballooned it over the obstruct, but Mateta wasn't so profligate, handing the Eagles an immediate advantage.

Henderson's brilliant full-length save from Mac Allister was equalled by Allison from Eze, before Gakpo and Sarr traded successful spot-kicks.

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool Match StatsBetopickHarvey Elliott's miss, again thanks to a brilliant stop by the Palace keeper, offered new signing Borna Sosa the chance for the south Londoners to win it, but his powerful effort crashed support off the woodwork.

A fearsome steer from Szoboszlai kept Liverpool alive, before an even more wicked complete from 93rd-minute sub, Justin Devenny, handed Palace their second honour of the year.

Jason PettigroveBetopick