Liverpool edged out Crystal Palace in a pulsating seven-goal encounter.

Andros Townsend had opened the scoring just 10 minutes before the interval when he slotted home from a Wilfried Zaha cut-back in an Eagles counter-attack.

The hosts pulled level at the beginning of the second half when Mohamed Salah pounced when James McArthur deflected a Virgil van Dijk shot into his path.

Roberto Firmino hand the Reds the lead a matter of minutes later with a turn and shot after good build-up play between Naby Keita and Andy Robertson.

But the visitors pulled level as James Tomkins headed from a Palace corner before Salah scored his second after Julian Speroni fumbled James Milner’s cross.

Jurgen Klopp’s side had to see out the game with 10 men as Milner found himself dismissed late on with a second yellow card for a foul on Zaha.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Sadio Mane made Liverpool’s lead more comfortable, only for Max Meyer to pull back another for Palace shortly after.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Reds’ ride takes a white-knuckle turn

 

Jurgen Klopp promised a rollercoaster experience in Liverpool’s pursuit of the Premier League title, and Crystal Palace provided a white-knuckle experience.

A see-saw encounter made for a thrilling spectacle for neutrals but enjoyment proved to be short-lived as the hosts negotiated yet another ardous challenge.

Palace’s performance may be the strongest that Roy Hodgson has ever produced at Anfield – no mean feat given that he used to survey the home dugout.

The Reds maintained a safe distance with Manchester City at the summit in a game which represented a credible banana skin for the champions-elect.

Most inside Anfield will still be struggling to catch their breath after this one.

Salah shuts up the snipers again

 

Patrick van Aanholt had made it his mission to ‘shut down’ Mohamed Salah.

But the Dutch full-back was left eating his words after tussling with Liverpool’s talisman as he reached a personal milestone of 50 Premier League goals.

Slices of fortune may have helped Salah’s cause yet there can be no dispute about his ability to find space at the opportune moments to find the net.

Scoring a half-century in 72 top flight outings is an identical return to Fernando Torres, the last free-scoring forward to truly capture The Kop’s imagination.

Forget shutting him down; opponents cannot even keep Salah quiet these days.

TAA’s importance grows in absentia

 

Confusion and contradiction reigned before kick-off over Klopp’s stance on the speed of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s recovery from a knee ligament injury.

Less than 24 hours after stating the defender was ‘really close’ to returning, his programme notes claimed he would not be available for this game ‘or really soon after’.

Liverpool will be hoping that Klopp’s original assertion on Alexander-Arnold rings true in light of James Milner’s torrid afternoon deputising at right-back.

Wilfried Zaha tied the evergreen midfielder in knots throughout and further exploited him as Palace took a first-half lead through Andros Townsend.

The Nigeria winger’s pace and trickery proved too great for Milner to contain after the interval and he paid the price with successive bookings.

On a day when Alexander-Arnold signed a new contract with his boyhood club, the 20-year-old’s importance was given fresh definition against Palace.

Old habits die hard for Sakho

 

Offloading Mamadou Sakho was supposedly Klopp’s first misstep as Liverpool manager.

Some felt he had been premature in sending the ungainly centre-back packing to Selhurst Park while others believed that it should have happened far sooner.

The France international’s return to Anfield vindicated the latter’s assessment as old habits continued to die hard on his former stomping ground.

His clumsiness sparked panic in the Palace defence at the start of the second half and culminated in Salah levelling the score from a deflected Virgil van Dijk shot.

Imposing, uncompromising and authoritative; the Dutchman is everything Liverpool had previously hoped that Sakho would someday become.

Klopp was right to trust his judgement it seems.