For the second home game of the season, the Eagles welcome newly promoted Aston Villa to Selhurst Park as they bid to flush the shock cup lost out of their system and secure more Premier League points.
DATE
31st August 2019
KICK OFF
3pm
VENUE
Selhurst Park Stadium, Holmesdale Road, Selhurst, London SE25 6PU
LAST TIME OUT
It was January 2016 the last time the two sides played each other and it was Villa Park where Wayne Hennessey made an absolute mess up and scored an own goal to give the hosts all three points.
OFFICIALS
Kevin Friend will referee the match with assistants Scott Ledger and Andrew Garratt while Tom Neild will be the fourth official. Andrew Madley is the VAR who will be assisted by Andy Halliday.
INJURIES
PALACE – James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho remain sidelined while Patrick van Aanholt, Joel Ward, Martin Kelly and Jeffrey Schlupp are all doubts.
VILLA – James Chester and Matt Targett will both miss out while Jonathan Kodjia is doubtful.
SUSPENSIONS
None
DISCIPLINE
PALACE (7 bookings) – Luka Milivojevic (2), Gary Cahill, James McCarthy, Max Meyer, Vicente Guaita, Wilfried Zaha (1)
VILLA – (2 bookings) – Frederic Guilbert, Trezeguet (1)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 12/01/2016 Aston Villa 1-0 Crystal Palace
- 22/08/2015 Crystal Palace 2-1 Aston Villa
- 01/01/2015 Aston Villa 0-0 Crystal Palace
- 02/12/2014 Crystal Palace 0-1 Aston Villa
- 12/04/2014 Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa
Last FIVE results for Palace;
- 27/08/2019 Crystal Palace 0-0 Colchester United
- 24/08/2019 Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace
- 18/08/2019 Sheffield United 1-0 Crystal Palace
- 10/08/2019 Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton
- 03/08/2019 Crystal Palace 0-4 Hertha Berlin
Last FIVE results for Villa;
- 27/08/2019 Crewe 1-6 Aston Villa
- 23/08/2019 Aston Villa 2-0 Everton
- 17/08/2019 Aston Villa 1-2 Bournemouth
- 10/08/2019 Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Aston Villa
- 03/08/2019 Red Bull Leipzig 1-3 Aston Villa
RECORD AGAINST VILLA
- Played – 43
- Won – 11
- Drawn – 14
- Lost – 18
FORM PLAYERS
Top two rated players from each team so far this season according to Who Scored;
- John McGinn 7.48
- Tyrone Mings 7.42
- Joel Ward 7.16
- Patrick van Aanholt 7.03
ONE TO WATCH
WESLEY MORAES FERREIRA DA SILVA
Former clubs – Itabuna, Tencin, Club Brugge
The 22 year old arrived at Villa Park in the summer from Belgian side Club Brugge for a fee of £22million. The Brazilian’s scoring record of 32 in 107 games alerted a number of clubs across Europe. He made his professional debut for Slovakian side Trencin in 2015 before moving to Belgium in 2016. Born in Juiz de Fora, Wesley initially played futsal before going on trial at a number of European clubs including a six month spell at Atletico Madrid’s academy side as well as French sides AS Nancy and Evian.
KEY CLASH
JAMES MCARTHUR v JOHN MCGINN
Once again, the midfield battle will be key in this game and this is where two Scotsman will face off. McGinn is an energetic box-to-box midfielder, much like McArthur, but he does have an eye for goal particularly from distance so the Palace man will be keen to prevent that from happening by closing his opposite number down quickly.
PRE-GAME STATS
- In the 14 occasions these two sides have faced each other in the Premier League, Palace have the upper hand with 5 wins while there have been 5 draws.
- From the last 5 match ups it is even with 2 wins each and 1 draw.
- Tyrone Mings leads the pass count with 131 closely followed by Luka Milivojevic on 127.
- John McGinn and Joel Ward are level on tackles so far this season with 11.
- Roy Hodgson has won more Premier League matches against Villa than against any other side (W7, D2, L2).
- Villa are looking to win consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since May 2015 when they beat Everton and West Ham.
- Jordan Ayew and Christian Benteke will be facing one of their former clubs.
PREDICTION
Last weekend, both sides secured their first league wins of the season which will have provided a much needed boost. The less said the better for how each fared in midweek against lower opposition in the League Cup. Roy Hodgson and Dean Smith chose to make a number of changes but it was Villa who thrashed a League Two side while the Eagles slumped to defeat.
Whether those respective results will have any impact on the game this weekend remains to be seen but with Hodgson making ten changes to the starting line up for that game, we would like to think the win at Old Trafford will provide that much needed morale boost.
The sides are evenly match with Villa looking settled after making a number of much needed signings in the summer. The biggest question is, can Palace correct their poor form at home from last season in this new campaign? It will be tight but we have to go for a narrow win for the Eagles in a game that they have to be looking to get all three points from.
Final score: Palace 2-1 Villa
OPPOSITION VIEW
Ahead of the visit of Villa, find out what Cole from 7500 To Holte told TEB this week about hopes for the season, thoughts on this match and much more.
We returned the favour by making an appearance on the 7500 To Holte podcast which is well worth the listen if we do say so ourselves.
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 11/10
- Draw – 9/4
- Away – 12/5
- Both teams to score – 8/11
