Crystal Palace look to continue their fine start to the Premier League season as they visit Villa Park to take on Aston Villa on Saturday, September 16. However, a minor injury crisis has struck the Eagles and the Crystal Palace predicted lineup has a different look to previous matches.
Crystal Palace Predicted Lineup For Trip To Aston Villa
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How Crystal Palace Have Lined Up Recently
Palace boss Roy Hodgson has opted for the same starting lineup in all four of their Premier League matches this season.
Sam Johnstone has started in goal, in front is a back four of Joel Ward, Tyrick Mitchell, Marc Guehi, and Joachim Andersen. Cheick Doucoure and Jefferson Lerma have provided protection to the defence as a defensive midfield duo, while Eberechi Eze has played in a more advanced midfield position. Jeffrey Schlupp has occupied the left wing, with Jordan Ayew on the right, and Odsonne Edouard as the lone striker.
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However, Jean-Phillipe Mateta started the League Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle and marked his performance with a hat-trick, and he was brilliant off the bench in the most recent league outing against Wolves. Coming on in the 71st minute, with the score level at 1-1, Mateta provided two assists and caused the Wolves defence a lot of problems as Palace ended up victorious.
Crystal Palace Recent Form And Tactics
The Eagles have set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in every league game they’ve played this season and they have made a solid start to the campaign.
The defensive midfield unit of Doucoure and Lerma has protected the defence extremely well, while also allowing Eze to be more creative and attacking. Ward and Mitchell get forward as much as possible with the latter in particular causing opposition defences a lot of problems with good crosses into the box.
Ayew has been hard-working and effective out on the right, but Edouard has struggled at times with the lone striker role. He did show his ability last time out though, moving to the left and cutting back inside as much as possible. If this is to be his style of play from now on it could be of great benefit to Palace and signal a chance for the Frenchman to reach his undoubted potential at Selhurst Park.
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A 3-2 victory over Wolves last time out saw them climb to seventh in the Premier League table, with two wins and a draw from their four matches. The scoreline made the game look close on paper but Palace attacked well and probably should have won by more than just a single goal margin.
Crystal Palace Minor Injury Crisis
Hodgson revealed in his pre-match press conference that they will be without two key players for the trip to Villa.
Guehi and Lerma both picked up injuries on international duty this past week and will be unavailable for this match. James Tomkins also joins them on the treatment table.
Michael Olise and Matheus França are still out injured, although Olise is back in training and could be available for selection soon. Hodgson did say this game is perhaps too soon though as the club won’t want to risk bringing him back before he’s ready.
Crystal Palace Predicted Lineup
With injuries forcing the Englishman to make changes, it will be interesting to see who he opts to bring in, although there are several options in the positions he needs to fill.
New signing Rob Holding will be competing with American international Chris Richards to replace Guehi, while Will Hughes and Jairo Riedewald are in contention to fill the hole Lerma’s absence leaves in defensive midfield. The experienced manager could also decide to move Schlupp into the centre, with Edouard moving out to the left and Mateta starting up front.
From looking at past team selections it’s likely Hughes will get the nod to replace Lerma. The defensive change is more difficult to predict but Richards probably has the edge over Holding, as the latter is a new arrival at Selhurst Park and has yet to even appear on the bench for the club.
Another possible change could see Dean Henderson in line to make his debut. Johnstone has been locked in as the number one so far this season, due to a lack of competition, but Hodgson is likely to want to take a look at Henderson between the sticks at some point in the near future. It would be extremely harsh on Johnstone to lose his place in the side just yet, though.
The manager has been known to stick to the same players, especially during a good run of form. So, with that in mind, the Crystal Palace predicted lineup looks like this:
GK: Sam Johnstone
RB: Joel Ward
LB: Tyrick Mitchell
CB: Joachim Andersen
CB: Chris Richards
DM: Cheick Doucoure
DM: Will Hughes
AM: Eberechi Eze
RW: Jordan Ayew
LW: Jeffrey Schlupp
ST: Odsonne Edouard
