Crystal Palace welcome Southampton to Selhurst Park in a mid-table Premier League clash.
Victory could see Palace go ninth if Brighton and Brentford both lose elsewhere in 3pm kick-offs, whilst Southampton can go as high as tenth with a win.
Team News
Cheick Doucoure is available for Crystal Palace after serving an one-match ban in their 3-0 away defeat against Everton last weekend.
Chris Richards (leg) and Nathan Ferguson (foot) are doubts.
Jack Butland (hand), Nathaniel Clyne (ankle) and James McArthur (groin) all remain absent.
Southampton could welcome Romeo Lavia back from a muscle injury which has sidelined the midfielder in recent weeks, although he will be handed a late fitness test by club doctors for safety reasons.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is also available after he was ineligible in the Saints’ 1-1 draw against Arsenal last weekend.
Armel Bella-Kotchap (shoulder), Valentino Livramento (knee) and Kyle Walker-Peters (thigh) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Crystal Palace are unbeaten in three of their last five meetings against Southampton (W2, D1, L2).
- Southampton have won just one of their last five visits to Selhurst Park (W1, D1, L3).
- Palace’s Wilfried Zaha scored in both appearances against Southampton last season.
- Wilfried Zaha has produced more shots than any other Palace player so far this season, having created 27 shots in 10 league appearances.
- Southampton are looking to go four matches unbeaten for the first time since a five-match run from January-February 2022.
Prediction
Following a brutal away defeat at Everton, Palace now need to reset and tidy up their defending and possession play which were both poor and mainly why they were beaten, on top of poor accuracy in their finishing touch despite some positive second-half attacking moves.
Southampton meanwhile did a fantastic job of weathering Arsenal’s dominant attacks with excellent defending and saves – despite poor marking of Granit Xhaka’s goal, whilst they also were able to threaten well and clinically take one chance to earn a draw.
I therefore do hope that Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints have turned a corner but Palace should provide a tough test, especially given that the Eagles have scored in five of six home matches this season, which will provide Southampton’s defence with a real challenge to try and snatch a result.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Southampton
Result: Crystal Palace 1-0
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