Crystal Palace made it seven winless Premier League games on Saturday in defeat to Liverpool.
As the league leaders came to Selhurst Park, there was only ever going to be one outcome, and this was Arne Slot continuing his impressive start to life at Liverpool.
However, it was not all smooth sailing as Oliver Glasner thought he had seen his side go 1-0 ahead within seconds of kick-off – only for an offside call to be made on Eddie Nketiah.
Liverpool soon established their authority as Diogo Jota made it 1-0 and that is how it remained for the rest of the game.
Crystal Palace did have a second-half resurgence though, threatening the Reds’ goal on multiple occasions but it was not quite enough.
One man was the catalyst of this turnaround.
Will Hughes changed the game vs Liverpool
For the Eagles, the struggles of Adam Wharton in midfield continued this week as he was played off the park by Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch.
This all changed for Crystal Palace in the second half with the introduction of Will Hughes and Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Hughes however is the player who has picked up plaudits for his contributions despite only playing 30 minutes as he kicked the Eagles into gear – with a VAR call being the difference between a point and none for Crystal Palace.
It was the desire and attitude of Hughes which earned him praise rather than his quality on the ball as he only managed to complete 63 per cent of his passes.
Hughes had just 22 touches of the ball but made two recoveries, three defensive actions and took on 10 duels – winning just three.
Crystal Palace No.19 lauded
Hughes was praised for his aggressive attitude which woke up a sleep-walking Crystal Palace team.
Speaking for the BBC, Mark Schwarzer picked Hughes out as the difference maker for the Eagles.
“The biggest difference is the introduction of Will Hughes – he’s been aggressive and he’s hustled Liverpool.”
Premier League productions pundit Matt Holland seconded this, praising Hughes for adding bite to the Eagles.
“We talked about pressure and getting tight to people, and Will Hughes has added a bit of bite to that Palace team.”
If the Eagles had nabbed a point, we’d be talking very differently about the impact of Hughes.
However, for Glasner, it should answer some questions and show him that Hughes should be starting in midfield going forward.
