Crystal Palace let Liverpool off the hook for a slightly below-par performance at Selhurst Park on Sunday, with a superb display from Alisson Becker helping the Reds to all three points.

Alisson made six saves in total to keep Palace at bay, and was comfortably Liverpool’s best player on what ended up being a positive afternoon in South London.

Steve Nicol praises Alexis Mac Allister performance

Mac Allister got the most crucial goal of the game on Sunday as he nodded Liverpool into the lead from Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick just before half-time.

On top of that, the Argentine was his usual combative self, making 12 defensive contributions to go alongside his decisive piece of attacking play.

Nicol was impressed, claiming that Mac Allister has arguably been Liverpool’s player of the season so far, and had been one of the very best against Palace this weekend.

“Last two or three weeks he’s had goals, he’s had headers, he’s got in tremendous positions. The timing of his runs in the penalty box and the timing of his headers and the placements of his headers are fantastic for a guy who’s one of the smallest on the field regardless of who the opposition are.

“It’s all about timing and composure, and he would be the competition for man of the match for Liverpool for me, with Alisson.”

Nicol reacts to Florian Wirtz goal

Nicol does not always speak so positively about Liverpool players and has been fairly critical of Florian Wirtz ever since his arrival on Merseyside.

However, the Scotsman was pleased to see Wirtz claim his first Premier League goal of the season against Palace, insisting that the No. 7 should use it to kick on and show more of himself in the weeks to come.

“It’s huge for any player,” he said. “Anybody who says confidence doesn’t come into it honestly doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Football players need confidence, and when you don’t have any or it’s very low, everything becomes difficult and decision-making becomes difficult.

“But when you’re confident and you’re playing well, everything comes easier and decisions become easier. This goal is only going to make him feel more comfortable, more confident, and that in turn will mean he makes better decisions with the ball, because sometimes he still doesn’t pick out the right pass, but he’s definitely warming up and today is just another step forward for him to showing us what he’s capable of, and certainly being more consistent.”