Liverpool closing in on DREAM scenario | OneFootball

Liverpool might now find themselves closer to their dream scenario than ever before.

The Reds' season so far has been fraught with late goals to decide high quality contests. Many have considered it to be an unsustainable game plan, as if Liverpool are purposefully winning in that way.

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Quite simply, the performance levels haven't been at the level most have to come to expect from the Reds, and we've been getting away with it up until now. Crystal Palace, however, manufactured a plan to put the team under the most pressure it's felt all campaign so far, and dropped points came.

With at least a two point lead at the top of the Premier League guaranteed following this weekend, the loss is hardly disastrous. But it should hopefully give the players and Arne Slot a reality check.

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Liverpool's form wasn't sustainable when you look at the performances they had been delivering, but we're only a few tweaks away from having a long-term plan that can deliver our dream scenario.

Are Crystal Palace this year's Nottingham Forest?

Last season, the Reds started the season brightly and after three consecutive Premier League wins, a 1-0 win from Nottingham Forest at Anfield burst everyone's bubble. The team performances was under-par, but one clinical strike from Callum Hudson-Odoi decided the contest.

In that moment, rival fans rejoiced and their 'Liverpool haven't played anyone good yet' claims were backed up, since a once relegation-battled side had just made a huge statement - although we all now know that Forest were on a generational run that year, seeing them qualify for European football.

After that loss, the Reds played 26 games before their next Premier League loss, winning 19 games and drawing the other seven. It was a remarkable streak. Slot turned his side into a powerful weapon.

This season, it feels as though we're still waiting for things to click into gear and now that one of our underwhelming performances has resulted in dropped points, we might see a similar change happen.

According to Gregg Evans at The Athletic, the Reds won 23 points from losing positions last season and the loss to Palace was the first instance where Liverpool had conceded the first goal. It was also the first loss of 'significance' in 12 months, looking to back to how impactful that Forest defeat was.

The match at Selhurst Park was similar in a couple of ways, in that both teams were defensively poor, conceding 2.92xg to 2.14xg, with 36 shots being taken. A 2-1 loss feels odd given the chances.

Federico Chiesa had thought he'd secured a point for his side when he scored in the 87th minute, but 10 minutes later, Eddie Nketiah stole all three points for the Eagles - in what was a deserved win.

Speaking via Liverpool ECHO, Virgil Van Dijk said: "You know when you can do better and everyone knew that. We are disappointed in our performance. Disappointed in the loss, but especially the way we went about it. I think if we got a draw, then we took already one point too many.

"It was the basic that we didn't do well. Sometimes you can have these days. Hopefully this is the only day this season we do that."

And so with just one loss on our record this season (so far), it feels right to put this down as a blip, much like the won suffered against Nottingham Forest last season. After all, Crystal Palace were on a 17-game unbeaten streak; their form isn't exactly that of your average league opponent nowadays.

Players still need to adjust to the team and the Premier League and once they're ready, Liverpool will be a different team. For now, consider it a reality-check. Slot will want to learn from the experience.