Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Kick Off: 15.00 GMT
Venue: Selhurst Park
Aston Villa head down to South London for their second away fixture of the Premier League season to take on Patrick Viera’s Crystal Palace.
Steven Gerrard will be hoping his side can build on their 2-1 victory over Everton last weekend but it won’t be easy against a very good Palace side.
Villa were far from perfect last week but there were signs of the side I believe Gerrards wants us to be. The big question as it always seems to be at the moment is Phillipe Coutinho or Emi Buendia?
Crystal Palace on the other hand are a much-improved side since Viera became manager in July 2021. Before they seemed content with surviving but now, similar to ourselves they have ambitions and want to climb to the higher levels of the Premier League.
This was highlighted when they made the Semi-Final of the FA Cup last season, only to lose out to Chelsea on the day.
The Eagles also finished two places ahead of Villa in the Premier League in 12th position.
Villa picked up four points from a possible six against Palace last season with the three points coming at Selhurst Park.
Aston Villa Team News
Diego Carlos had surgery this week and it reportedly went well. The boss is still hopeful that the defender will play a big chunk of the season once he recovers this season. Somewhat optimistic given the injury but they are the experts.
Calum Chambers and Ezri Konsa will have been hoping to impress Gerrard in training as they look to replace Carlos in the starting eleven.
There are a few decisions for Gerrard to make today. The big one as I previously mentioned is who starts between Coutinho and Buendia. The other, the formation, does he opt for the 4-3-1-2 that beat Everton or revert to the 4-3-3 that lost to Bournemouth?
You would think the latter is not an option but playing away from home is another challenge in itself so I wouldn’t be surprised if we did go back to that system.
Possible starting line-up
Martinez; Cash, Mings, Konsa, Digne; Kamara, McGinn, Ramsey; Coutinho; Ings, Watkins.
Crystal Palace Team News
The home side will be without Nathan Ferguson, James McCarthur, James Tomkins and Jack Butland.
New signing Chris Richards will be pushing for a start following his cameo appearance in Crystal Palace’s draw against Liverpool at Anfield.
Possible starting line-up
Guaita; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Doucoure, Schlupp; Ayew, Eze, Zaha; Edouard.
Match Facts
- Crystal Palace have only beat one side in the Premier League (Leicester 8) more times than they have beaten Aston Villa (7).
- Aston Villa only won one game in London last season and that was against Crystal Palace (D1, L4).
- Danny Ings has opened the scoring (20) more times than any other player in the Premier League since the 2019-20 season.
- Wilfred Zaha has only scored one goal and zero assists in twelve games against Aston Villa.
Head to Head record
Crystal Palace wins: 13, Draws: 15, Aston Villa wins: 21.
Last five meetings:
15 May 22: Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace
27 Nov 21: Crystal Palace 1-2 Aston Villa
16 May 21: Crystal Palace 3-2 Aston Villa
26 Dec 20: Aston Villa 3-0 Crystal Palace
12 Jul 20: Crystal Palace 0-2 Aston Villa
AVillaFan Prediction
To be completely honest, I don’t know what to think right now. Despite the win last week, I still don’t believe the manager knows his best team or formation.
When you compare that to Viera who looks comfortable and in control, it does worry me.
That said, they say winning breads confidence so I am hoping the three points we picked up against Everton last week will give us a platform to get something from Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace 1-1 Aston Villa
Match odds (Variable between bookmakers)
Crystal Palace 19/12
Draw 23/10
Aston Villa 11/5
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