Crystal Palace vs Liverpool - Alan Pardew expects Christian Benteke will haunt Liverpool - 7M sport

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool - Alan Pardew expects Christian Benteke will haunt Liverpool



Posted Saturday, October 29, 2016 by PA

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew believes Christian Benteke is going to excel when he faces Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday.

The 25-year-old forward joined the Eagles in the summer from the Merseyside club on a four-year deal after falling out of favour under Jurgen Klopp.

Since joining Palace, Benteke has scored three goals in nine appearances in all competitions for the club and Pardew believes he has fitted in well at the London club.

He said: "When you have not had the opportunities you perhaps thought you deserved, you are going to have an extra bit of stimulus to be sure.

"I would if I was him so I expect him to be more charged then normal. It makes sense, I think it is just natural human reaction.

"He is a (good fit for Palace) and that is one of the reasons we targeted him.

He added: "He is a real example to the young players that we have in the academy here.

"His play on the pitch is powerful, he is a handful for centre-halves. I think if I was a centre-half I certainly wouldn't want to play against him.

"He can jump seven feet and catch it on his chest, he is one of those types of strikers.

"He is tight technically, we just need to get him a bit better service I thought.

"I think he is playing with a smile on his face, I think that makes a difference to a footballer where you feel that you are wanted and you are part of the team.

"Every player wants to play, he knows he has a very good chance to be named in the team every week here If he plays at the level he has been playing at."

Palace versus Liverpool has recently been a fixture which includes a number of goals and Pardew believes it is one fixture the fans look forward to.

Last season at Selhurst Park saw Liverpool claim three points in a 2-1 win but the Eagles have won three of the last five meetings between the two teams.

Pardew said: "I think (the atmosphere is good) because both teams set up to attack.

"The 3-3 (in May 2014) was a weird game, Palace looked dead and buried and they came back on this incredible run.

"I think there is an edge in the Liverpool memory and it sticks in the mind and it gives them extra motivation but our fans make it a special occasion.

"Of course the Liverpool fans that travel are brilliant as well so I think it is going to be a very good game. Of course our last couple of results (3-1 defeat at Leicester and 1-0 loss against West Ham) haven't been great but we still are in a good form. I think it will be a really good game.

"Liverpool always carry great players and I think there is a momentum about them at the moment and an intensity," he added.

Jurgen Klopp will not be surprised if Benteke comes back to haunt Liverpool.

Liverpool paid B#32.5million to sign the striker from Aston Villa in the summer of 2015 but then sold him a year later to Crystal Palace.

The Reds boss said of Benteke's form: "It's no surprise. When you have a player like Christian in your squad, of course we knew about his quality.

"But every player needs the space to perform, to develop and to show things. For different reasons we couldn't give him all the time (he needed), you lose a little bit of confidence, you feel pressure.

"We couldn't change it and I thought, and I'm pretty sure Christian thinks the same, it made sense. He made the transfer so, for Crystal Palace, what a player.

"We know it best because we had him all the time in training and in all moments he showed always his quality."

Keeping a large squad full of international players happy is a perennial issue for the Premier League's top managers.

This week Simon Mignolet said he would never be happy as a number two after Klopp announced Loris Karius was his first-choice keeper.

But the German insisted his is a happy camp, saying: "I'm always honest and I say my door and the door in the team is always open but it's about performing.

"We have always this agreement: work hard, don't talk too much, win games. If a player doesn't want to be happy I can't keep him happy, but if he wants to be happy it's quite easy for me to keep him happy.

"Being happy only when you make 48 games, it's difficult for each player. To feel you are important for the team, that's 100 per cent true for each player in the squad. I think it's not too difficult to be happy in our team."



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