How the national media reacted to Liverpool's 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon
Liverpool's Alexander Isak celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Anfield on April 25 2026
Liverpool's Alexander Isak celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Anfield on April 25 2026
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The run continues. Liverpool saw their hopes of Champions League qualification given a major boost when they beat bogey side Crystal Palace 3-1 in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Alexander Isak and Andy Robertson scored in the first half and Florian Wirtz deep into stoppage time at the end of the game after Daniel Munoz had controversially pulled a goal back for the visitors while stand-in goalkeeper Freddie Woodman was down injured.
It made for a lively 90 minutes. And while the ECHO was in attendance and provided our usual level of coverage, here's how the national media viewed a positive result for Arne Slot's side.
Paul Joyce, formerly of this parish, highlighted in The Times the unlikely hero between the sticks for Liverpool.
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"In a season of unexpected twists and turns, the sound of Freddie Woodman being serenaded by the Kop and fêted as England’s No 1 is unlikely to be surpassed," he says.
"The adulation for Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper was richly deserved after a remarkable afternoon in which he found himself central to the tumult.
"Arne Slot has said he might be tempted to write a book on the trials and tribulations that have befallen his team this term. The trouble is few would believe his musings were not fiction."
Riath Al-Samarrai in the Daily Mail wasn't convinced by Liverpool and centred on the injury for Mohamed Salah.
"Where one drama ends another begins," he pens. "For Liverpool, the consolation to a poor season will almost certainly come in the form of Champions League qualification after a ropey win against Crystal Palace, but it remains to be seen if Mohamed Salah will be fit to see it through.
"His removal shortly before the hour mark with what appeared to be a hamstring injury will inevitably stir fears of an anti-climactic end to one of the most sterling club shifts the Premier League has known.
"As he left the field, he waved to all four corners of Anfield in one of those gestures that will only enhance the anxiety around his forthcoming scans. From there, he departed straight down the tunnel, with the mood eventually lifted by a 3-1 win that strengthened recent momentum for Arne Slot’s side."
Andy Hunter, another ex-ECHO employee, picked up on the same theme in The Guardian.
"The sun shone, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz made an impression on a Liverpool victory, Freddie Woodman seized his moment as third-choice goalkeeper and Arne Slot’s team went fourth by lifting the curse of Crystal Palace," he opines. "This season being what it is for the champions, though, a dark cloud had to appear.
"Mohamed Salah limped out of Liverpool’s third consecutive Premier League win and potentially out of his final season at Anfield with a hamstring injury. That was the impression given as the Liverpool great applauded all four sides of the ground before heading straight down the tunnel.
"Another cloud came in the form of more protests against Liverpool’s decision to increase ticket prices for the next three seasons. But for Slot, another step closer to Champions League qualification courtesy of a first win in four meetings with Palace this season brightened the outlook."
Finally, Richard Jolly in The Independent focused on the contrasting contexts of some of the game's key performers.
A day of firsts at Anfield and maybe lasts, too," he reckons. "For the first time, their £100m men were twinned on the scoresheet as, for the first time, Alexander Isak struck for Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield.
"Andy Robertson scored what is very likely to be his last one. One glorious era is ending, even if Liverpool have insufficient evidence so far that their colossal spending will herald the start of another.
"It was about the old and the new. Florian Wirtz’s 96th-minute goal, classily hooked in from 12 yards, meant he and Isak scored in the same game, even if the Swede had gone off by then. Robertson’s strike meant the three scorers could have a combined cost of £249m, although he only accounts for £8m of it."