With three challenging fixtures coming in the week that follows this fixture it will be important for Patrick Vieira and his players to return from Birmingham with a point or three which would be just reward for some of their recent performances.
TIME/ DATE/ VENUE
- 3pm
- 4th March 2023
- Villa Park, Trinity Road, Birmingham B6 6HE
PREVIOUS MEETING
The last trip for the Eagles to Villa Park was in May 2022. Ollie Watkins put the hosts in front but Jeffrey Schlupp popped up to ensure Palace returned to South London with a share of the points.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Lucas Digne (7.5)
OFFICIALS
- Referee: Craig Pawson
- Assistants: Eddie Smart, Natalie Aspinall
- Fourth official: John Busby
- VAR: Jarred Gillett
- Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Sam Johnstone continues to miss out through injury while Nathan Ferguson is closing in on a return. Wilfried Zaha could feature in some capacity.
VILLA – Philippe Coutinho and Jed Steer are unavailable due to injury and there are doubts over Robin Olsen and Diego Silva.
DISCIPLINARY THIS SEASON
RED CARDS – Tyrick Mitchell (1), James Tomkins (1), Douglas Luiz (1)
YELLOW CARDS (5+) – Cheick Doucoure (8), Marc Guehi (7), Jeffrey Schlupp (5), Joachim Andersen (5), Emiliano Martinez (5)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 20/08/22 Palace 3-1 Villa
- 15/05/22 Villa 1-1 Palace
- 27/11/21 Palace 1-2 Villa
- 16/05/21 Palace 3-2 Villa
- 26/12/20 Villa 3-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 25/02/23 Palace 0-0 Liverpool
- 18/02/23 Brentford 1-1 Palace
- 13/02/23 Palace 1-1 Brighton
- 04/02/23 United 2-1 Palace
- 21/01/23 Palace 0-0 Newcastle
Last FIVE results for Villa;
- 25/02/23 Everton 0-2 Villa
- 18/02/23 Villa 2-4 Arsenal
- 12/02/23 Manchester City 3-1 Villa
- 04/02/23 Villa 2-4 Leicester
- 21/01/23 Southampton 0-1 Villa
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 12th in the Premier League with 27 points from 23 games played while Villa are 11th with 31 points from the same amount of games.
RECORD AGAINST VILLA
- Played 50
- Won 14
- Drawn 15
- Lost 21
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Joachim Andersen 6.92
- Wilfried Zaha 6.90
- Ollie Watkins 6.80
- Emiliano Martinez 6.79
ONE TO WATCH
OLLIE WATKINS
FORMER CLUBS – Exeter City, Weston-Super-Mare (loan), Brentford
The Villa striker has weighed in with 8 goals and 4 assists so far this season and while that may not seem prolific, it is enough to make him a real danger man heading into this fixture.
KEY CLASH
MARC GUEHI v OLLIE WATKINS
Both players are in good form currently and will be keen to keep that going in this match up. Watkins is fresh from hitting the back of the net against Everton while Guehi was a big reason why Palace kept a clean sheet against Liverpool.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Palace have drawn 5 of their last 6 games
- Villa ended their 3 game losing streak with victory at Everton
- Palace have been drawing at half time and full time in the last 3 games
- Villa are unbeaten in this fixture in 5 games
- Palace last won at Villa in December 2013 (1-0)
- Palace are unbeaten against Villa in their last 2 meetings
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (6 – 20th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Michael Olise (5 – 8th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (1283 – 14th in PL)
- TACKLES – Cheick Doucoure (59 – 4th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Marc Guehi (1562 – 19th in PL)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (41)
- FOULS – Jeffrey Schlupp (38 – 3rd in PL)
- DISPOSSESSED – Wilfried Zaha (70 – 1st in PL)
- SAVES – Vicente Guaita (80 – 4th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Villa was the second team in England’s top division ever to complete the double back in 1897. A team achieved this feat by winning both the top division and winning the FA Cup. The first team to achieve this was Preston North End.
PREDICTION
The two clubs are in a similar position at this stage of the season and it will likely be a tight match-up between them at Villa Park. Palace continue to look for their first win of 2023 while Villa ended a three game losing streak last weekend which included two home defeats. With the potential for Wilfried Zaha to make his return from injury, we can see him contributing to that first victory of the year.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 to Palace
BETTING ODDS
- Home – evens
- Draw – 23/10
- Away – 14/5
- Both teams to score – 10/11
RESOURCES
