News'I played with Patrick Vieira, I know how tough Palace will be'
James Milner's time spent as a teammate of Patrick Vieira means he's very much aware of the stern test Liverpool face when they travel to Crystal Palace.
The No.7 shared a dressing room with the Eagles' manager and Premier League veteran during the 2010-11 season at Manchester City.
In September, the Reds claimed a 3-0 victory at Anfield over Vieira's side thanks to goals from Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita, with Milner expecting another fierce battle at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Inside Anfield: Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace
Previewing the trip to London, the vice-captain told Premier League Productions: "We know from the home game how well Pat has got them playing. I think he's going to do a great job there.
"Obviously I was lucky to play with Patrick at Manchester City, I know what a special player he was. But his mentality, and talking to him after the home game and knowing his ideas and the winning mentality, he's trying to get that into the club.
"You look at the season they have had so far – and a few of the results they've had where they lost out on points late in the game and been a bit unlucky – I think he is doing a fantastic job there and [will] continue to do that. Hopefully he doesn't do too well on the weekend.
"It's important that we finish strong and then we have a break after that, so it's always important that you finish a run of games before a break with a good result.
"So it's important that we can do that but it will be a tough game and, like I said, they have got some good players as well and players playing well and full of confidence."
The victory over Brentford last weekend for Jürgen Klopp's side saw them climb up to second in the Premier League standings.
As he and his teammates look to chase down leaders City, Milner continued: "The table can look like that obviously with games in hand and things like that and we still have to play them.
"But for us it's always the same, we know it's important, there's a lot of football to play and we just have to concentrate on ourselves. It's important that we don't get caught up in the visions of other people and what's going on and how well City are playing.
"We know how good they are, we've seen it over the last few years, we've had 97 points and not won the league. So we know how good they are and how good you have to be to stop them.
"But all we can do is control our games and get the points on the board when we get the chance. It's important that we don't worry too much about what they're doing, set our own targets game by game, try to accumulate the points and put them under a bit of pressure.
"They are a top-class team – we know that – but we know we can be as well and we know we can put long runs of winning streaks together. So it's important we concentrate on our side and not too much else."