Palace Preview: Competition for places in Eagles' back line

Match previews

18 Dec 2022

Patrick Vieira will hope his side can hit the ground running after the World Cup break as they return to action against Fulham at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day (15:00 GMT).

Past meetings

It has been almost two years since the sides last met in a goalless draw at Selhurst Park in February 2021, but the Eagles managed to come out on top in all three of their previous encounters, with Jaïro Riedewald and Wilfried Zaha on the scoresheet at Craven Cottage in their most recent victory.

Boxing Day will see Palace take on their London rivals for the first time under Patrick Vieira, but the Frenchman faced Fulham nine times as a player, winning eight and scoring in a 4-1 win at Highbury.

Preview

For Vieira and his staff, the World Cup break provided the opportunity to have something of a second pre-season – and other than World Cup competitors Joachim Andersen and Jordan Ayew, he was working with a full squad.

"We want to challenge ourselves, want to compete every single game we’re going to face and the best way to do that is to prepare,” he said after the friendly against Real Valladolid at Selhurst Park. “When we start the games will be one after the other, so the big job, the big work, has to be done now."

In facing Brazilian legends Botafogo, Turkish champions Trabzonspor and Italian league leaders Napoli as well as the Spanish side, Palace have certainly pushed themselves – but now the focus returns to domestic action.

Defeat at Nottingham Forest capped a run of three away games in seven days before the break, so the Eagles will be pleased to return to Selhurst Park and a raucous home support keen to see their side push on after a positive start to the season.

Palace sit 11th in the table, level on points with Fulham but with a game in hand. The visitors have made an impact of their own after gaining promotion last season, and only defeats to both Manchester clubs before the break have prevented them climbing even higher.

Tactical overview

With Marc Guéhi suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card at Forest and Andersen recently back from his World Cup trip with Denmark, Patrick Vieira will need his entire cohort of defensive players to hit the ground running.

James Tomkins started in Palace’s winter friendlies while Chris Richards made a welcome return to action after injury, and 22-year-old Academy defender Kofi Balmer has also impressed in his time with the first-team.

Target man Aleksandar Mitrović has already scored nine times this season and made a similar impact for Serbia at the World Cup in Qatar, while João Palhinha’s impact in midfield has seen him named by many as one of the signings of the season.

Palhinha’s link up with former Brazilian international Andreas Pereira and captain Tom Cairney has been one of their biggest assets so far, and Dan James offers an alternative option in attack.

Match details

Monday, 26th December
15:00 GMT
Selhurst Park
Amazon Prime

How to follow

Watch live

The game will be broadcast live from 14:30 GMT on Amazon Prime Video.

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 Palace v Fulham 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 Fulham 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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