Palace Preview: New look Villa pose challenge for resolute Eagles

Match previews

1 Feb 2023

Unai Emery's free-scoring Aston Villa face the task of breaking down Palace's resilience at Villa Park as the Eagles look for a repeat of the August victory in south London.

Past meetings

Wilfried Zaha was at the double as Palace put Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa to the sword at Selhurst Park in August, completing the comeback after Ollie Watkins’ opening goal just five minutes in. Jean-Philippe Mateta dutifully added a third late on and the Eagles could not be caught.

Patrick Vieira’s men last visited Villa Park in May, 2022, where Watkins was their kryptonite once again. He netted the opener in controversial circumstances, grappling with Marc Guéhi in the penalty area, before Jeff Schlupp equalised with just eight minutes remaining to earn Palace a deserved point.

Preview

In January when the full scale of the challenge ahead became clear, a fixture list comprised of solely the biggest and most in-form teams in the league, pessimism was rife – but six weeks later and Palace have taken points off Manchester United, Newcastle United, Liverpool and more.

The curious thing is that, despite being unbeaten in four at home and losing just one of the last seven in the league, Patrick Vieira feels his side could have more. Against Liverpool last time out the hosts had by far the better of the chances, but couldn’t find that elusive breakthrough goal to secure all three points.

You know when you play against Liverpool, your 11 players on the field have to perform because of the quality that they have,” Vieira said after full-time.

“When you look from Vince [Guaita] to Mateta up front, we worked well. We worked hard as a team and we were well-disciplined.

“The plan that we had, I believe the players executed really well today – the only thing that was missing was to score that goal.”

The bottom-half is as tightly packed as it has been in recent years, and unpredictable results near the relegation zone mean just nine points separate bottom placed Southampton and Crystal Palace in 12th.

The Eagles are just four points off Aston Villa in 11th and Chelsea in 10th, however, and can take a huge stride towards the top-half with victory at Villa Park.

Aston Villa have found scoring an easy task under new boss Unai Emery, netting in their last 14 consecutive games, but have struggled keeping it tight at the back. A clean sheet against Everton last time out was a much needed respite after conceding 11 times in their previous three games, and they have conceded seven more goals than Vieira’s men this season.

The addition of left-back Alex Moreno from Real Betis may soothe their defensive woes, while they await the return of summer signing Diego Carlos after an ACL injury in August.

Tactical overview

After Ebere Eze’s cameos from the bench against Brentford and Liverpool, he will be competing for a starting berth with Jeff Schlupp and Jordan Ayew, while Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Philippe Mateta may vie for the role of starting centre-forward.

In midfield, Sambi Lokonga is striking up an effective partnership with Cheick Doucouré, allowing Michael Olise more freedom to press higher and become involved in the final third.

A more tactically disciplined side since the arrival of four-time Europa League winner Unai Emery, Villa rely heavily on a versatile midfield confident in possession and aggressive out of possession. Boubacar Kamara has made a big impact since his arrival from Marseille, and alongside Douglas Luiz provides a strong foundation for shielding the back four.

Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn drift in from the wide areas to occupy the opposition’s holding midfielder and centre-backs, which allows attackers Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey to search for space in behind. The ability to introduce Philippe Coutinho from the substitutes bench only increases the attacking opportunities.

Match details

Saturday, 4th March
15:00 GMT
Villa Park
Live audio commentary on Palace TV+

How to follow

Watch live

The game will not be broadcast in the UK.

Watching from abroad? You can check Premier League broadcast details wherever you are in the world by clicking here.

On Palace TV+

Live audio commentary Aston Villa v Palace will be available on Palace TV+, a subscription service that gives subscribers live access to selected Academy match broadcasts, live audio commentary of all league and cup first-team games, and much more.

Find out more by clicking here.

Social media

You can check out our Instagram story for all of the pre-match build-up and our official Twitter page is bringing you up-to-the-minute match updates, eye-catching photos and more.

Our club website, cpfc.co.uk, is the place to go for team news on the dot, an instant report and all the post-match votes.

The official app

The official Palace app’s match centre and live blog is the place to be for everything you need during the Aston Villa clash. With live stats and alerts, a running match commentary feed and lineups the moment they’re released as well as post-match reaction from Palace TV+, there’s no need to leave the app to follow the Eagles’ efforts.

Download our app for free here!

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