Football writer Alex Keble reflects on the key talking points after Crystal Palace's penalty shootout victory over Liverpool in the FA Community Shield at Wembley.
Try telling Crystal Palace the Community Shield is just a friendly.
Three months after winning the FA Cup - their first-ever major trophy – Oliver Glasner’s side have lifted silverware again at Wembley, beating Liverpool on penalties following a 2-2 draw.
Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was again a hero, saving two penalties in the shootout to emulate his penalty save in the FA Cup final.
"Two trophies in three months, that’s incredible," was a delighted Henderson’s response on TNT Sports.
It’s fair analysis for a club with such a bare trophy cabinet, especially given that the last team to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League and then win the Community Shield was Everton in 1994/95.
Looking ahead to the 2025/26 Premier League season, it was a game full of meaning.
Liverpool’s host of new signings was supposed to be the big story. Instead, Palace’s quiet summer of continuity won out.
Palace’s counter-attacking performance shows the benefits of a quiet summer
Arne Slot started four new players signed for a combined £240 million, yet it was Palace – without a single new addition in the line-up – who were the more impressive over the 90 minutes.
Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez all impressed (more on that below), but not to the same extent as Palace, who rode the exact same tactical rhythms as their successful 2024/25 campaign, executing a perfect counter-attacking game-plan.
Ironically, it mimicked the story of Liverpool’s 2024/25 that new signings can be over-rated and continuity under-rated.
Palace were slick, together, and laser-focused throughout. Put simply, they looked like they know each other better than their counterparts. Which they do.
It might mean Liverpool’s reshuffle is going to take a little time to come together. But in what could be a three- or even four-horse title race, it’s time Liverpool won’t have.
Wirtz and Ekitike shine early on as Liverpool evolution begins
But there’s really no need to be overly negative about Liverpool failing to win today.
There were many positives for Slot, chief among them the outstanding performances of Wirtz and Ekitike.
Wirtz was everywhere, elegantly stitching things together on both flanks and linking nicely with Dominik Szoboszlai, with whom he exchanged numerous one-twos in the first half.
Ekitike, too, shone brightly, springing into life with a goal inside the first four minutes that typified Liverpool’s first 45. He finished off a passing move lasting 66 seconds, involving nine of their 11 players.
Liverpool passes leading to Ekitike's opening goal
Click here to zoom in on image
It spoke volumes that Ekitike and Wirtz so dazzled the Wembley crowd that Mohamed Salah faded into the background, taking a meagre 10 touches in the first half.
Indeed it was easy to forget Salah was on the pitch. Blazing his penalty over the bar in the shootout summed up a difficult day, his eighth consecutive appearance at Wembley in which he has failed to score or assist a goal.
But in a strange way, that’s good news for Liverpool fans. Slot’s evolution this summer aims at taking the pressure off the Egyptian, whose league-leading 29 goals last season were key to Liverpool being crowned champions.
Finally, Salah can afford to have off-days like today.
Palace’s success in midfield is a warning to Slot’s new system
This game was won and lost in central midfield, and it’s here that Slot will be slightly worried.
Liverpool started Wirtz and Szoboszlai in front of Curtis Jones, with Ryan Gravenberch unavailable to play after becoming a father last night.
The early signs suggested a fantastic burgeoning partnership between Wirtz and Szoboszlai, but playing two No 10s has its downsides, and sure enough there were gaps between the lines that Palace exploited.
Their first goal was created in a hole that wouldn’t have been there had Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister been sat side by side, as Adam Wharton slipped a ball into space behind the Liverpool midfield.
Wharton's pass leading to Palace's first equaliser
In the second half, Wharton dominated midfield as Liverpool were surprisingly pinned back, those dangerous Palace runs forcing Slot’s side into retreat. Once Liverpool went deeper, Palace found it easier to get on the ball, look up, and clip passes over the top.
Slot noticed the issue and tried to fix it with substitutions, switching to a narrow 4-2-2-2 without any strikers, but this only served to push Liverpool further into their own third, leading to the second goal.
Liverpool pushed back before Palace's second goal
This is possibly just a minor issue that will be solved by Gravenberch’s return (although he is suspended for the Premier League opener against Bournemouth on Friday). Or it could be a more serious concern and an unavoidable side-effect of adding another playmaker into the first 11.
With Alexander Isak reportedly the next big target, Slot and Liverpool need to make sure their focus on attacking players does not disrupt the balance of their midfield.
Kerkez and Frimpong both excel in new lopsided full-back partnership
In better news, there was a lovely balance to how Kerkez and Frimpong operated, with Kerkez sitting a little deeper on the left to allow Frimpong to stay high on the right.
Their lopsided positioning worked for the most part. Frimpong scored Liverpool’s second goal - remarkably taking his shot with the clock reading 20:20, a poignant moment as fans paid tribute to Diogo Jota – while Kerkez got forward very well in the second 45. His cross in the 81st minute should have been tucked away by Salah.
But Salah’s sheepish performance may have been related to the new full-backs. Frimpong’s movement was notably different to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s and the lack of connection on Liverpool’s right might explain why the Egyptian was not at his best.
Which brings us back to the defining narrative of the day. This was a match of continuity versus change, of big spending versus holding tight to what you have.
As with the Premier League title last season it was the club who did nothing over the summer who hit the ground running. After a summer rebuild on an unprecedented scale for a reigning champion, Liverpool will be hoping that is not an ominous sign of things to come.
Failing to win the Community Shield has, at least, not been a bad omen in recent campaigns. The last six Premier League champions have not lifted the Shield at the start of their title-winning campaigns.
Palace, meanwhile, are the first new winners of the Shield since Nottingham Forest in 1978.