Crystal Palace manager Olivner Glasner has insisted he isn’t worried about taking on the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea at the start of the season, as he relishes testing himself against such sides.
[Sky Austria have an interview](https://www.skysportaustria.at/mediathek/nicht-mit-der-weissen-fahne-nach-wembley-glasner-will-topteams-fordern/) with the Crystal Palace manager this week in which he discusses his excitement about a tough start to the season for his side.
Crystal Palace start the season against Liverpool in the Community Shield after winning the FA Cup last season, before taking on Chelsea on the opening day of the Premier League season.
The Eagles could not ask for a more difficult start to the season as they take on Arne Slot’s side after a busy summer in which they’ve spent €308m on signings such as Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong. They are also chasing a €100m deal for Alexander Isak.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have won the Club World Cup in America and spent big themselves on deals for Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Jorrel Hato, Liam Delap and Estêvão. They too are unlikely to have stopped that spending either.
Glasner isn’t worried, though, and instead relishes the opportunity to test his and Crystal Palace’s skills against such opponents.
_“I think that’s what’s exciting, that it takes you further in life: challenges and then to overcome them and think about how you can beat such teams. We had that before the FA Cup final against City, and we have it now in the Community Shield,”_ he said.
_“That’s actually what drives me personally now, yes, that also, I think, pushes my personal boundaries, yes, where even Oliver Glasner has to constantly reinvent himself, has to think about how he can further improve the game with his team in order to be competitive again._
_“We play against Liverpool, who were champions, and they also strengthened themselves really well. We were able to keep the team together; we just couldn’t add any more players. We could only replace them, and yet we won’t be going to Wembley and Stamford Bridge with a white flag._
_“Instead, we’ll prepare as best as we can and go into the game with the conviction that we have a chance of winning. That’s what makes it so exciting, because then I can say, ‘That worked three months ago, and it will work again now.’_
_“No, now we have to make small adjustments, maybe add a few small tweaks, do things a little differently, so that we’ll be able to beat these teams again.”_