Klopp On Palace: "I Feel Nothing When I Hear It"

In their last two seasons since rejoining the Premier League, Crystal Palace have taken on the mantle of Liverpool's "Boogeyman" team. Thankfully, Jürgen Klopp doesn't seem the type to be haunted by the Ghost of Seasons Past.

Klopp addressed the mental grip Palace has over Liverpool in his pre-match press conference.

"Sometimes it's good to be new," Klopp said, stating what should be obvious. "Somebody told me about the special history with Palace, but I feel nothing when I hear it.

"In life like in sport you can lose big. You have to react in the right way. Strike back, whatever. If we can use this experience, we should do it. But nobody should be afraid of this opponent. It's not impossible to get a result against Palace. We are prepared."

That Liverpool should be able to--gasp!--get a positive result against Crystal Palace is hardly something shocking coming from the boss's lips. Hopefully his confidence and focus-on-the-now mentality will carry over to the squad with positive results.

Klopp went on to talk about tactical preparations ahead of Palace, and the challenges that past Liverpool sides have failed to adequately address.

"Crystal Palace is difficult to play. They're really tall, and you have to play special. We know about their transition game, their plan, and we try to be prepared. It's not a big difference, because we played against Chelsea who were very organised and deep, and we played against Kazan too. If we have the ball, Palace will do something similar."