Crystal Palace's Improvement Without Points Leaves Pierre Sage Under Pressure

Crystal Palace lost 3-1 to Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Sunday, a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat that leaves them bottom of the table with seven points from ten matches. The scoreline tells one story. The performance tells another.

They finished with 54 per cent possession, 19 shots and 2.60 expected goals. They hit the crossbar, had a first-half goal disallowed for offside, and forced Alisson Becker into several saves. Liverpool, by contrast, managed 46 per cent possession, 20 shots and 2.65 expected goals. The raw numbers describe a contest that was far closer than the final score suggests.

Across their earlier matches this season in all competitions, Palace averaged 39.2 per cent possession, 8.8 shots and 0.76 expected goals. Against Liverpool they recorded 33 touches in the opposition box, compared with an average of 16.6. The attacking volume was not just better than their recent norm; it was a different level entirely.

Yet the points return did not follow. Palace scored one goal from 2.60 expected goals, a shortfall of 1.6 against an average of 0.0 across their earlier matches this season. The process improved; the finishing did not. Whether that is a matter of quality, composure or simply variance is the question the next matches will answer.

What is already clear is the wider trend. Under Roy Hodgson in 2022/23, Palace took 1.8 points per game over ten league matches, a record of five wins, three draws and two defeats. Under Sage this season, the return is 0.7 points per game from ten matches, with two wins, one draw and seven defeats. Hodgson was reappointed in March 2023 on a short-term basis after Patrick Vieira was sacked, and the contrast in returns is stark.

The squad has changed significantly since the summer. Quinten Timber, Honest Ahanor, Axel Disasi, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Evann Guessand and Jørgen Strand Larsen have arrived, while David Ozoh, Daichi Kamada, Mofe Jemide, Maxence Lacroix, Marc Guéhi and David Obou have departed. That is substantial turnover, and it would be unreasonable to expect instant cohesion.

Liverpool, meanwhile, moved to 18 points from ten games. Andoni Iraola, their head coach, said his side needed the win after back-to-back defeats and praised a key Alisson save in the first half. Without it, the scoreline could have looked very different.

For Palace, the international break arrives at an awkward moment. Sage faces increased pressure, and the club must decide whether the problem is finishing, game management, or the squad turnover itself. But football is a results business, and the table does not care about expected goals.

When Palace return, they will need to convert improved attacking volume into points. If they do not, the pressure on Sage will only intensify. The process is there. The points are not. That is the challenge he must solve.