'For 76 minutes it was really bad' - Jurgen Klopp impressed by Liverpool's comeback win over Crystal Palace

It required something special to get the three points at Selhurst Park as Roy Hodgson's men were on course for a shock win on Saturday afternoon to silence their critics after defeat to Bournemouth on Wednesday. Jean-Philippe Mateta scored from the spot just before the hour mark to put the hosts in front. However, the game changed after Jordan Ayew was sent off in the second half. Liverpool equalised through Mohamed Salah's 200th goal for the club before a piece of individual brilliance from Harvey Elliott, saw them overturn the deficit and leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the table.

Although Liverpool came out unscathed from a daunting venue, Klopp admitted that they were not up to the mark for the bulk of the 90 minutes.

“Today was not a really good day. For 76 minutes it was really bad. We didn’t have enough accelerations, there was no timing, I don’t know how many times offside. It was horrendous. So that’s always a sign that we were a bit too passive. One player has passed the ball and the other is already there," he said.

“In the beginning, because Palace were not extremely high on confidence, it didn’t really go for us. They could have had a penalty in the first half. I didn’t see the situation back so I don’t know exactly what the situation was.

“Then we conceded through the penalty. It looked a little bit like we needed that today. Then they got the red card, which all helped. That’s why I say we were lucky as well. But from 76 to 105 minutes, that was really good. We all know that against 10 men, we can have problems but we really turned the game around.”

Liverpool pose themselves as title contenders after a late surge in London with their only league reverse remaining the controversial stoppage-time defeat to Tottenham. They have won 18 points from losing positions and have netted 14 goals in the last 15 minutes of matches this season, which speaks volumes about the character and resilience of the side.

Liverpool have done their job and now the onus is on Arsenal to produce the goods against an Aston Villa side who are on high on confidence after beating Manchester City midweek. The Reds were relentless in their pursuit of the three points and were rewarded for their efforts at the final whistle. They will return to Premier League action next Sunday against old foes Manchester United but before that, they have a trip to make to Brussels to take on Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday in the Europa League.