Oliver Glasner has teased a significant piece of Crystal Palace team news ahead of their visit to Anfield on Sunday.
The Eagles were unable to do Liverpool a favour last weekend, going down 4-2 at home to Manchester City despite taking an early lead, although they had consolation in the form of Michael Olise returning from injury off the bench after two months on the sidelines.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference this afternoon, the 49-year-old suggested that the French winger could be in line to make his first start since the end of January against the Reds.
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Glasner said of the forward (via cpfc.co.uk): “He’s closer [to starting] than the week before. He had the whole week training with us.
“We’ve had a very good week in training, high quality and a lot of intensity, which is very important because Liverpool are maybe that team in the world that plays with the highest pressure – you never have time. It’s been a really good week and Michael was part of it, so he’s close to starting.”
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Olise was linked with a potential move to Liverpool during the January transfer window, so the Anfield hierarchy may be watching his performance with interest if indeed he’s selected to start on Sunday.
The 22-year-old had been in flying form before his injury, with four goals and three assists in six Premier League games (Transfermarkt), and he’ll definitely need to be watched closely by the Reds’ defence – certainly a lot more closely than Atalanta’s attackers were last night.
While he’s yet to score or set up a goal against us in five previous tussles, the Frenchman may well fancy his chances of doing so this weekend, based on LFC’s horrific performance in the Europa League on Thursday.
We always want to see the best players in action at the highest level, and it’s great that Olise is now back after two months out injured. We just hope that Liverpool can keep him and his teammates quiet on Sunday!