Patrick Vieira insists that his Crystal Palace side will treat Friday's preseason friendly against Liverpool with the same level of respect as they would do for a Premier League match.
The Reds have travelled to Singapore for Friday's fixture in the national stadium after enduring a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United on Tuesday in Bangkok. Jurgen Klopp is expected to once again rotate his squad heavily, as he did against the Red Devils, with a focus more on match fitness than churning out a positive result.
But former Arsenal captain Vieira, claims that it will be a tough examination for his own players, as they prepare to build on last year's 12th placed finish in the Premier League.
READ MORE: Erling Haaland makes 'insane' Liverpool claim and blunt Man City Pep Guardiola 'point'
READ MORE: FSG insiders proved right as Liverpool seal £200m deal with Standard Chartered
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, he said: “There is no easy game against Liverpool. We are facing a team that will be there at the top to challenge for the title, and will be there to challenge for winning the Champions League. It’s preparation that will give us, and me as a manager, an idea about where we are. It’s really good game preparation for us.
“We know how difficult and challenging that game will be, but we are in preparations and we will learn a lot tomorrow about where we are, and which part of the game we will need to focus on. The objective is to be ready for the first game of the season.”
Despite his claims about taking the match seriously, Eagles boss Vieira has included several of the club's Academy players in his travelling squad and hinted that they may have a role to play against the Reds in Singapore.
He added: “We bring some young players and that will be a really good experience. Some of them are travelling that far for the first time. How are they going to deal with that experience? The flight, the time difference. Those kinds of experiences will tell us a lot about those players.”
Liverpool already know that they will likely be without forward Diogo Jota for the match against Palace. The Portuguese hit-man underwent scans on Thursday morning for a suspected recurrence of a hamstring problem.
The match kicks off at 1.35pm UK time on Friday, July 15 and will be broadcast live on LFC TV. Liverpool recorded two Premier victories over Palace last season, beating them 3-0 at Anfield early in the season, before recording a 3-1 verdict at Selhurst Park in January.
READ NEXT
-
Joel Matip names Liverpool player who 'made life quite hard'
-
Ben Davies future latest as clubs line up for Liverpool transfer talks
-
Paul Weller sends message to Liverpool fans who booed national anthem at Wembley
-
Liverpool may have just quietly unleashed next Jurgen Klopp tactical evolution
-
Erik ten Hag makes honest claim about Liverpool after 4-0 win for Man United
