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Jurgen Klopp: My thoughts on facing Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke
JURGEN KLOPP will not be surprised if Christian Benteke comes back to haunt Liverpool when they face Crystal Palace tomorrow (5.30pm).
Crystal Palace v Liverpool - Premier League match preview
Liverpool paid £32.5million to sign Benteke from Aston Villa in the summer of 2015 but then sold him a year later to Crystal Palace for an initial £27m.
Now the Belgium striker will line up against the Reds for the first time since leaving Anfield and will no doubt be looking to prove a point.
Christian Benteke joined Crystal Palace from Liverpool in the summer
Christian Benteke failed to break into Jurgen Klopp's first-team at Liverpool
And the 25-year-old, who has scored three goals in seven Premier League games for Palace, has an admirer in Jurgen Klopp despite the decision to let him go.
The Liverpool manager 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.
Christian Benteke has scored three goals in seven Premier League games for Crystal Palace
"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."
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