Crystal Palace complete 2024 on Sunday afternoon by welcoming a potentially rejuvenated Southampton to Selhurst Park.
It’s been a terrible campaign for the Saints so far, but new manager Ivan Juric has offered some hope. Juric oversaw a 1-0 defeat at West Ham in his managerial spell, but there was much to admire about the Saints’ performance and they should have claimed at least a point.
“From watching the Fulham game and today, I think our team can compete,” the new manager said after the game on Thursday.
A drift towards pragmatism will certainly help the Premier League bottom-dwellers, who have amassed a meager six points this term.
Palace had started the season in the trenches with Southamptonbut Oliver Glasner has stumbled on stability over the past two months. The Eagles may not be the high-flying unit we saw earlier in the year, but they once again look well-balanced and capable of making a push towards mid-table.
After losing twice to Arsenal last week, they would have been more than satisfied with a point at in-form Bournemouth on Christmas Day.
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Crystal Palace vs Southampton H2H Record (Last Five Matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Crystal Palace |
Southampton |
|---|---|
|
Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace – 26/12/24 |
Southampton – West Ham 0-1 – 26/12/24 |
|
Crystal Palace 1-5 Arsenal – 21/12/24 |
Fulham 0-0 Southampton – 22/12/24 |
|
Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace – 18/12/24 |
Southampton 1-2 Liverpool – 18/12/24 |
|
Brighton 1-3 Crystal Palace – 15/12/24 |
Southampton – Tottenham 0-5 – 15/12/24 |
|
Crystal Palace 2-2 Man City – 12/07/24 |
Aston Villa 1-0 Southampton – 07/12/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
united kingdom |
Not televised |
|
united states |
peacock |
|
canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 5 Canada |
The Eagles will be without skipper Marc Guehi after picking up his fifth Premier League booking of the season at Bournemouth. Chris Richards will likely come in behind Glasner as a result.
Eberechi Eze returned from a minor foot injury to play on Thursday and should be back in the XI this weekend. However, Palace are still without midfielder Adam Wharton, summer arrival Chadi Riad and Matheus Franca.
Cheick Doucoure could come into the Palace midfield and replace the impressive Will Hughes, who has played a lot of football in recent weeks.
Predicted line-up for Crystal Palace vs Southampton (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Chalobah, Lacroix, Richards; Muñoz, Lerma, Doucoure, Mitchell; Eze, Sarr; tests
As expected, there was no major systematic overhaul of Juric in his managerial arc, with the former Serie A boss retaining a back three.
That will be the case again on Sunday and there are unlikely to be major personnel changes.
Paul Onuachu was a nuisance against him hammers without getting on the scoreboard and deserves to keep his place. There could also be a recall to the XI for youngster Tyler Dibling after he appeared on the bench on Christmas Day, with the teenager potentially deputizing for Mateus Fernandes behind the front two.
Gavin Bazunu, Juan Larios, Ross Stewart and Will Smallbone are all sidelined.
Expected line-up for Southampton against Crystal Palace (3-4-1-2): Ramsdale; Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Bednarek; Sugawara, Downes, Ugochukwu, Walker-Peters; Dibling; Archer, Onuachu.
We shouldn’t expect thrills and spills in south London on Sunday. There is room for these two parts to cancel each other out.
Southampton will be a much tougher test for their opponents with the wily Juric in charge, but they will struggle for goals, so the hosts may have to blow their noses during Sunday’s clash. Your defense – actions against arsenal however, he has improved immeasurably over the past six weeks and should be able to shut out their cheeky visitors.
Perhaps a moment of magic from Palace’s dynamic front three will tip the contest in their favour.
