Pierre Sage's future as Crystal Palace head coach appears increasingly uncertain after Liverpool inflicted a fourth Premier League defeat in a row on the struggling Eagles.

Palace are bottom of the table, having claimed just seven points out of a possible 30 under Sage, who succeeded Oliver Glasner in the summer.

Liverpool made Palace pay for missed opportunities at Selhurst Park and it was Alexis Mac Allister's fine header in the 40th minute that broke the deadlock following a neat free-kick routine.

Fourteen minutes into the second half, Florian Wirtz produced a tidy finish to double the Reds' lead after he was picked out by Bradley Barcola.

Alexander Isak was quiet for much of the game, but came alive late on - and coolly netted the visitors' third in the 89th minute, for his seventh league goal of the season.

The hosts netted a consolation with the last kick of the game, when Eddie Nketiah scored from the spot after Milos Kerkez had been penalised.

The Selhurst Park atmosphere had been understandably muted as the Eagles started the game on the back foot.

But the crowd was momentarily lifted when a Palace attack ended with Yeremy Pino crashing a close-range effort off the Liverpool crossbar.

For all of Liverpool's early possession, they created little and it was the hosts who thought they had taken a first-half lead, but Jorgen Strand Larsen was ruled offside.

And Palace had enough chances to have scored before Nketiah's stoppage-time penalty - forcing Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker into six saves.

Liverpool, who slumped to an underwhelming loss at Fenerbahce in Europe in midweek, are up to fourth in the Premier League - nine points behind leaders Arsenal.

Things are looking bleak for Palace as the second international break of the season arrives.

Following FA Cup and Conference League winner Glasner was always going to be a huge task for Sage, but few would have expected Palace to be sitting at the bottom of the table.

But if Sage's time in south London is to come to an end, then he may count himself unfortunate.

Last time out, Palace had to battle away at Tottenham with 10 men for nearly 80 minutes when Jean-Philippe Mateta was shown a red card before slumping to a 2-0 loss.

And now he will wonder how his side did not find the back of the net until the 95th minute against Liverpool, with Alisson being made to work throughout.

But once the opening goal went in for the visitors, Palace heads dropped, the stadium fell silent and it felt as though Liverpool could score as many as they wanted.

There was soft applause from the Palace fans as Sage made his way down the tunnel at full-time - but will he be in charge when they take on Coventry City on 21 November?

Liverpool's superpower has so often been Anfield, but this season it seems they have been more comfortable playing away from home.

Andoni Iraola's side have now won four on the bounce away from Merseyside and are unbeaten - with their two league defeats coming at Anfield.

The Reds have not looked close to top gear under their Spanish boss but they enter the second international break just four points adrift of second-placed Brighton.

But the frailties still remain clear. Alisson was the Reds' best player on an afternoon where past Liverpool teams would have relished playing against a Palace side lacking in confidence.

The Brazil keeper was forced into making a number of quality saves and also had to watch Pino's effort bounce off the woodwork.

But a win is a win and Iraola will be delighted with another three points to build on as the international break arrives.