Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace
Venue: Villa Park
Kick off: 4PM
Crystal Palace will be looking to bounce back from their seven-goal loss to Liverpool when they continue their 2020-21 Premier League campaign away to Aston Villa this afternoon.
The Eagles were thumped by the reigning champions at Selhurst Park last time out, but Villa, who currently sit ninth in the table, recorded an impressive 3-0 win away to Sam Allardyce’s West Bromwich Albion.
Villa have enjoyed an excellent start to the 2020-21 season, winning seven, drawing one and losing four of their 12 league matches to collect 22 points, which has left them in ninth position in the table.
Dean Smith’s side are only actually four points off fourth-placed Everton and have two games in hand over the Toffees, and the hosts will be looking to make it three wins from their last four matches this weekend.
Villa actually lost four times in England’s top flight between October 23 and November 30, but they ended a disappointing run by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 12 and have picked up seven points from their last three matches, including an impressive 3-0 victory at West Brom on Sunday.
This match is even more important for Smith’s side considering that their next four in the league are against Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, while they will also host Liverpool in the FA Cup on January 8.
The seven-time English champions recorded a 2-0 win over Palace in the corresponding match last season, while they have not lost to the Eagles at Villa Park since December 2013.
Palace’s overall form in the Premier League this season has been relatively solid, picking up 18 points from their 14 matches to sit 13th in the table, just three points behind 10th-placed West Ham United.
The Eagles were stunned on Saturday, though, as they conceded seven times at home to Liverpool; Roy Hodgson’s side had actually entered the match off the back of two impressive draws against Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham but were seriously outclassed by the reigning champions.
Palace will be desperate to bounce back at Villa Park and arguably their two best performances of the season have come on their travels, beating Manchester United 3-1 back in September and thumping West Brom 5-1 earlier this month.
Wilfried Zaha’s form has been a major plus for the capital side this season, with the attacker netting seven times in 12 Premier League appearances, but a lack of contribution in terms of goals from elsewhere is a concern heading into 2021.
Aston Villa possible XI: Martinez, Cash, Hause, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, El Ghazi, Grealish, Traore, Watkins.
Crystal Palace possible XI: Guaita, Clyne, Tomkins, Cahill, Van Aanholt, Townsend, Riedewald, McArthur, Eze, Zaha, Benteke.