The Redmen will be jetting off to Asia today to continue preparing for what should be a difficult campaign, competing on domestic and continental fronts. After two friendlies against lower-league opposition, the preseason really heats up against Crystal Palace and either Leicester City or West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League Asia Trophy in Hong Kong.
Infamously, these are the kinds of teams Liverpool struggled most against last year, including defeats to both Leicester City and Crystal Palace in the second half of the campaign.
Ahead of the match, Jurgen Klopp was asked in an interview with the Premier League how he would approach the matches.
“If I would be poker player, I would say maybe we should not show all our cards,” the boss explained in his typically colorful way. “But It’s the same probably for Crystal Palace with their new manager with Frank de Boer.”
Klopp went on to say that this match was maybe an opportunity for “a little bit of revenge” after the 2-1 defeat to Palace last year, courtesy of a Christian Benteke brace. Though, please, if you must seek revenge, wait for the regular season.
As much as Klopp would like to keep his cards close to this chest, he admits that the experience of enacting new tactics is far too important in this kind of environment, so much so that he really cannot wait.
“It’s not about hiding things; we cannot hide anything anymore so it’s about playing. You have to use these games like the most intense training session you could ever plan, because that’s what we want.”
