Oliver Glasner has no qualms about Marc Guehi's mindset ahead of his awkward meeting with Liverpool on Saturday. In fact, he's struggling to see why the England international's attitude has frequently been praised in the wake of the transfer drama given the centre-back merely honoured the terms of his contract.
Arne Slot's Reds struck a deadline-day deal with Crystal Palace worth £35million plus a 10 per cent sell-on clause, only for Eagles chairman Steve Parish to pull the plug at the eleventh hour.
Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Glasner said: "I have no concerns at all. I'm completely convinced and I mention this quite often, as long as Marc is playing for Crystal Palace, he will be playing with 100 per cent. This is what I expect tomorrow.
"I'm really convinced that he will show this again. He's an amazing player, he's in amazing shape. So I expect a great game from him. Of course, I had a conversation with Marc but I think you will expect it to maybe have been more or longer, it was really a very short conversation because it was easy.
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"We talked before, we talked at the end of last season, we talked in off-season, we talked in the pre-season, and of course we talked after the transfer window closed but it was a five-minute conversation.
"On the other side, I'm really wondering why it's so outstanding if you stick to an agreement, it also shows you maybe what kind of times we are living in. If you sign a contract, let's say the normal thing is you stick to your contract, so we are praised for doing what we have to do, I think it's more the opposite, we should blame people who don't stick to their agreement.
"Of course he was a little bit disappointed at the beginning but he said 'no, it's fine, I like being here, I like the team, I like the staff, I like Crystal Palace, I'm a south London boy, it's all good, I will give my best,' and this is exactly what I knew would happen."
In the absence of the suspended Hugo Ekitike, England international Guehi will be tasked with nullifying Alexander Isak, who pushed to force his way out of Newcastle to successfully seal his dream switch to Merseyside, at Selhurst Park. If Palace avoid defeat against Liverpool, they will be 18 games unbeaten in all competitions, matching a club-record run from 1969.
Glasner said ahead of meeting the only other unbeaten side in the Premier League: "I don't care about it [the opportunity to match the club-record]. Last year we had the worst start in Premier League history and at the end, we had a points record. I don't care about records but of course, it's always better having positive records than going the other way."
Ismaila Sarr, who has four goals in seven outings against Liverpool after netting and assisting in the Community Shield triumph, is fit for Palace. Yeremy Pino, Adam Wharton and Eddie Nketiah are also available while Caleb Kporha, Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure remain sidelined.
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