Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
Liverpool legend John Aldridge has written in the Liverpool Echo that his old side can expect similar tactics from Crystal Palace as they faced against Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion.
The Reds faced two imposing sides in their last two league games who tried to keep things tight at the back and capitalise on the counter-attack.
Liverpool came through with a 0-0 draw against United before beating West Brom 2-1 at Anfield, but they may get a more attacking approach from Palace, with the onus on them as the home side to take the game to Liverpool a little more.
Aldridge told the Liverpool Echo: “Now Liverpool can expect more of the same when they visit Crystal Palace on Saturday evening in their next Premier League encounter.
“Palace will do exactly what they’ll always done by defending deep and looking to counter-attack. Christian Benteke will want to prove a point against the manager who sold him.
“As against West Brom, the key will be to avoid conceding to many set-pieces or silly free-kicks.”
Selhurst Park can be a very difficult place to go, as Liverpool have experienced in the past, but they will look to keep up the pace at the top of the Premier League.
Aldridge makes the point about set-pieces, which seems to be the main way Liverpool concede goals this season, while Palace have a strong presence in the air and will feel they can capitalise in that specific area.
Alan Pardew’s side has had a mixed start to the season by picking up 11 points from their opening nine games, but they are the kind of side that can be troublesome for anyone in the division and can click into good spells of form out of nowhere.
Palace have plenty of pace and end product which their fans will probably want to see a little more of and they can be a real threat to Liverpool.
The dynamic of Liverpool being the away side, and the fact that Pardew’s teams do not tend to shy away from taking games to their opponents, suggests this could be a rather different challenge for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew
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