Palace take another break from the dismal league form having not won in six games to welcome Mark Hughes’ Stoke City to South London for an FA Cup Fourth Round tie.
Having met when the Eagles last tasted victory at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a late Lee Chung-yong wonder goal, Alan Pardew will hope to continue the cup run knowing a good number of Premier League clubs will be out following the conclusion of this round.
The Potters suffered heartbreak on Tuesday evening as a penalty shootout cost them a chance of an appearance in the League Cup final after losing to Liverpool.
Not wanting to tempt fate but should Palace make it into the fifth round draw they will be allocated ball number eleven.
Team News
Crystal Palace – The only confirmed absence is Kwesi Appiah (knee) who is out for the season. Connor Wickham begins his three game ban while Bakary Sako and Dwight Gayle are struggling for fitness. Yannick Bolasie is back in training but a couple of weeks away from a return to action. New signing Emmanuel Adebayor is likely to start on the bench.
Stoke City – The visitors have Charlie Adam (calf), Marco Arnautovic (back) and Ryan Shawcross (back) all missing through injury while Geoff Cameron is doubtful.
Action Replay
The last two meetings between the teams have both been in the Premier League at the Britannia Stadium with the same result in each, a Palace 2-1 win. In December 2015 Palace returned with all three points courtesy of a Connor Wickham penalty after Wilfried Zaha had been brought down and a stunning strike late on from South Korean Lee. It was a similar story in March 2015 as first half goals from Glenn Murray and Wilfried Zaha goal were enough to seal the points for the Eagles.
The last time these two teams met in the FA Cup was the third round in 2013. After a draw at Selhurst, the replay was won by the hosts 4-1 in extra time.
Form Guide
In the last six games between the two, it is Palace just edging it with three wins while Stoke have two and one draw. Only two of those games were at Selhurst Park with Palace winning in January 2014 and a draw in December of the same year.
In the last six games, Stoke have the better form with six points having won two games and drawn one. In contrast, Palace have only managed four points with one win and a draw.
The form players are Yohan Cabaye (7.31) and Phillip Wollscheid (7.19).
One To Watch
Xherdan Shaqiri – current rating 6.84
The SFR Yugoslavia born midfielder was a surprise signing for Stoke in the summer from Inter Milan after an unsuccessful spell at the San Siro. He began his career at FC Basel before moving to Bayern Munich. The Swiss international has made over fifty appearances for his country scoring seventeen goals. At only twenty four years of age, he has shown on a few occasions already this season what he can do so if he starts the game he most certainly be one for Palace to keep an eye on.
Predictions
After the disappointment of midweek it will be very difficult to Stoke to lift themselves especially after 120 minutes of football to no avail. On the flip side, it could give them a taste of cup fever and boss Mark Hughes will be looking for a reaction. As has been proved in recent games between the two sides, Stoke will be a hard team to beat but the common theme in games has been penalties. With Mark Clattenburg in charge anything can happen, and probably will.
- TEB prediction – home win
- FourTwoThreeOneStoke prediction (see link below) – home win
Betting Odds (courtesy of Paddy Power)
- Home 21/20
- Draw 9/4
- Away 11/4
