Joshua King spoiled Crystal Palace’s party at Vitality last weekend as Roy Hodgson’s side failed to move out of the 17th place in the points table for another weekend. They have a chance to do so again when they welcome Chris Hughton’s Brighton & Hove Albion to Selhurst Park on Saturday. The Seagulls are fresh from stealing a hard-fought point from the Terriers in the last round and will look to put in a similar performance this time around.
Palace, who are just three points away from the drop zone will love to get back to winning ways but have not been able to do so in the two times they have met their opponents already this season. A win in this game can take the Eagles up to the 15th place and will set up a base to make a strong finish to the season. Here is the predicted lineup Palace might field for this tie:
Team News:
In early team news, Hodgson has up to six first-team stars ruled out for this game. Alexander Sorloth, Jeffery Schlupp, Jason Puncheon and Bakary Sako will all be unavailable this weekend. Joel Ward and Christian Benteke will have to pass a late fitness test and remain the only other injury issues ahead of this game.
Expected lineup (4-4-2):
Defence:
Wayne Hennessey had a decent outing against Bournemouth but will want to put in a better performance against the Seagulls this weekend. He will start under the bar as Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins will keep their places at the heart of the backline for Palace. They will have to be alert to the dangers posed by the likes of Murray and Pascal.
Patrick van Aanholt has been a regular at left-back this season for Palace and will start there while Aaron Wan-Bissaka has turned into a crucial part of the squad and will start on the right flank.
Midfield:
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is finally back to full fitness and had a productive game last weekend. He will start on the left flank in an advanced role while James McArthur will provide width to the attack and numbers to the midfield on the right flank.
Luka Milivojevic is the key for Palace to win the midfield battle in this game and he will be assisted by Yohan Cabaye, who is settling well into life under Hodgson, after a lengthy injury.
Attack:
With Benteke not fully fit, Wilfried Zaha will have to lead the attack while Andros Townsend is expected to partner him up top.
Here is how they might line up:
