The trip to Villa Park is the first game following the hugely disappointing capitulation at home to Liverpool and the fans are expecting a reaction from both management and players alike.
DATE
26th December 2020
KICK OFF
3pm
VENUE
Villa Park, Trinity Rd, Birmingham B6 6HE
LAST TIME
It does not seem that long ago since an end of season defeat in this fixture that saw Christian Benteke red carded after the final whistle. A Mamadou Sakho goal was chalked off before Trezeguet scored a brace to seal three much needed points for the hosts.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Trezeguet (8.5)
OFFICIALS
Referee – Anthony Taylor
Assistants – Adam Nunn, James Mainwaring
Fourth official – Peter Bankes
VAR – Craig Pawson
Assistant VAR – Simon Long
INJURY CONCERNS
PALACE – Gary Cahill, Connor Wickham, Martin Kelly, Wayne Hennessey, Nathan Ferguson, Mamadou Sakho
VILLA – Wesley Moraes Ferreria da Silva, Ezri Konsa, Ross Barkley, Mahmoud Ibrahim Hassan
SUSPENSIONS
Matty Cash
DISCIPLINARY
RED CARDS – Luka Milivojevic (1), Christian Benteke (1), Douglas Luiz (1)
YELLOW CARDS (3+) – Matty Cash (5), John McGinn (4), Matt Targett (4), James McArthur (3), Luka Milivojevic (3), Jack Grealish (3), Tyrone Mings (3)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 12/07/2020 Aston Villa 2-0 Crystal Palace
- 31/08/2019 Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa
- 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
Last FIVE results for Palace;
- 19/12/2020 Crystal Palace 0-7 Liverpool
- 16/12/2020 West Ham United 1-1 Crystal Palace
- 13/12/2020 Crystal Palace 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
- 06/12/2020 West Bromwich Albion 1-5 Crystal Palace
- 27/11/2020 Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle United
Last FIVE results for Villa;
- 20/12/2020 West Bromwich Albion 0-3 Aston Villa
- 17/12/2020 Aston Villa 0-0 Burnley
- 12/12/2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Aston Villa
- 30/11/2020 West Ham United 2-1 Aston Villa
- 21/11/2020 Aston Villa 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
RECORD AGAINST VILLA
- Played 45
- Won 12
- Drawn 14
- Lost 19
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Jack Grealish 7.98
- Kortney Hause 7.45
- Andros Townsend 7.12
- Wilfried Zaha 6.99
ONE TO WATCH
OLLIE WATKINS
FORMER CLUBS – Exeter City, Weston-Super-Mare (loan), Brentford
It was no secret that Palace had glanced at the young striker on more than one occasion but it was Villa who blinked first and stumped up a club record £28million for his services. Many questioned if he had the real ability to make the step up but with 6 goals in 12 games so far this season, that says all you need to know.
KEY CLASH
JAMES MCARTHUR v JACK GREALISH
Someone will be tasked with trying to keep the Villa star man quiet and one of the candidates will be the Scottish Pirlo and it will be quite some task. The influence of the England international is akin to Zaha and Palace, but the likelihood is that if you do a job on him they you win half the battle.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Villa have kept a clean sheet in their last 3 league games
- Palace have only won once in their last 8 visits to Villa Park
- That was a 1-0 win on Boxing Day in 2013
- A red card has been shown in each of the last two games between the two
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (7 – 8th overall)
- ASSISTS – Andros Townsend, Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze
- PASSES – Cheikhou Kouyate (548)
- TACKLES – James McArthur (38 – 5th overall)
- TOUCHES – Cheikhou Kouyate (712)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (30 – 13th overall)
- SAVES – Vicente Guaita (39 – 11th overall)
PREDICTION
With the hosts playing well of late, this will no doubt be a tough game for the Eagles but the eagerness to make up for the home thrashing by Liverpool will drive them on. They will no doubt be aware that a reaction is needed in this match and there will likely be changes.
FINAL SCORE: 1-2
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 5/6
- Draw – 13/5
- Away – 11/4
- Both teams to score – 6/10
RESOURCES
