Crystal Palace will host Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday looking to continue their excellent run of form. The Eagles have won four out of their last six games in all competitions drawing one while losing the other against Manchester United.
The will face Brighton, who are coming on the back of an extremely crucial 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town. Chris Hughton’s team are now on 30 points, five points away from danger, and will fancy their chances of escaping relegation.
But they will be wary of a Palace team who have been scoring freely lately and even in games slightly tilted towards the opposition in terms of possession and dominance, the likes of Zaha and Batshuayi have still managed to score enough goals to emerge comfortable winners.
CRYSTAL PALACE TEAM NEWS
Mamadou Sakho is recuperating after his successful knee surgery while Pape Souare is ruled out till mid-March. Roy is unlikely to have any other injury concerns to worry about.
PREDICTED CRYSTAL PALACE LINEUP VS BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Roy Hodgson cited both rotation and tactics as reasons behind bringing back Wayne Hennessey in goal against Burnley. But he is likely to restore Vicente Guaita to the starting lineup on Saturday.
Aaron Wan Bissaka is the undisputed right-back and will start once again. He notched up an assist last weekend and will be confident of emulating something similar against Brighton.
James Tomkins is expected to retain his place at centre-back while Martin Kelly might miss out once again with Scott Dann keeping his place alongside Tomkins.
Patrick Van Aanholt will start as the left-back.
MIDFIELD
Hodgson has to decide on a number of slots having brought in Meyer and Kouyate in the last game.
Luka Milivojevic looks certain to start in central midfield while James McArthur is likely to make a comeback on the right-hand side. Jeffrey Schlupp could retain his place on the left flank if Roy opts for a more conventional 4-3-3.
Meyer and Kouyate are likely to start on the bench.
ATTACK
Wilfried Zaha is expected to start on the left and having scored the third goal in their 3-1 win last weekend, will be eager to add more to his tally.
Michy Batshuayi should continue down the middle having netted his second goal since joining from Chelsea in January while we might see Andros Townsend return on the right-wing.
