8 Nov 2015

'We Can Win': Pardew reveals secret to beating Liverpool; confirms plan to 'exploit' LFC's defence

Liverpool have a miserable recent record against Crystal Palace, and with only two wins in the last seven games, Jurgen Klopp will be hoping to buck the trend and put the London club to the sword. Palace boss Alan Pardew is confident of getting a result, though, and in his pre-match press conference, he explained how the Eagles can take the points at Anfield.

LFC vs. Palace: Recent Record

* Last 10 Games: Won 3, Lost 5, and drawn 2.

* Failed to win 70% of games against Palace.

* 18 goals conceded in 10 games (1.8 goals per game)

* 14 goals scored (1.4 per games)

* Only one win in the last five league games.

It doesn't make for pleasant reading, and Pardew seems confidence that Palace's great run against Liverpool is set to continue.

In his pre-match press conference, he stressed the need for his side to show 'ambition', and zeroed in on two key areas he intends to exploit:

"We need to capitalise on what they're not good at, and defending is an issue that club has had for some time, and we hope to exploit that. You've [also] got to put them on the back foot as much as you can. If we can do that like we did last season we can...win."

Pardew is absolutely right about putting the Reds 'on the back foot'. Liverpool don't tend to play well when the opposing team relentlessly pressures the players, and if CP adopt a similar high pressing game (and restrict time on the ball) then it may cause Klopp's team problems.

It's also true to say that Liverpool have suffered defensive issues over the last three years, but under Klopp, the team has conceded only 3 goals in 6 games, so right now, defence is less of an issue than in the past.

The team will hopefully maintain its current defensive stability today, and for me, that means sticking with Sakho/Skrtel at the heart of defence.

Lovren had a good game on Thursday, but Skrtel is a more consistent defender, and after sitting out the Rubin Kazan game, he's also fresh, which will be important after the reduced recovery time between games.

Palace certainly have the players to cause Liverpool problems, and if the Reds don't contain Yannick Bolasie, it could be a repeat of last season's 3-1 defeat.

Author: Jaimie K


0 Comments:

Post a Comment