Well, here we are, the final game of the season as the Eagles welcome Aston Villa to Selhurst Park as we bid farewell to what has been a rather odd season, but ends on a very promising note.
MATCH INFORMATION
- 4pm – 19th May 2024
- Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU
PREVIOUS MEETING
The last time Villa make the trip to South London, they returned to Birmingham off the back of a 3-1 defeat. They did take the lead very early on courtesy of Ollie Watkins, but a brace from Wilfried Zaha and a Jean-Philippe Mateta strike ensure the points went to the hosts. Zaha could have had a hat-trick but a second half spot kick was saved.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Wilfried Zaha (8.3)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Darren Bond. Assistants: James Mainwaring, Craig Taylor. Fourth official: Dean Whitestone. VAR: Tony Harrington. Assistant VAR: Mat Wilkes.
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Sam Johnstone, Rob Holding, Cheick Doucoure, Matheus Franca, Naouirou Ahamadam and Will Hughes are all ruled out. Jefferson Lerma may make a return.
VILLA – Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Jacob Ramsay, Morgan Rogers, and Matty Cash are all expected to miss out. Alex Moreno and Nicolo Zaniolo and doubts.
DISCIPLINARY RECORD
RED CARDS – Jordan Ayew (1), Naouirou Ahamada (1), Boubacar Kamara (1), John McGinn (1)
YELLOW CARDS (8+) – Douglas Luiz (11), John McGinn (8), Jefferson Lerma (8), Matty Cash (8)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 16/09/23 Villa 3-1 Palace
- 04/03/23 Villa 1-0 Palace
- 20/08/22 Palace 3-1 Villa
- 15/05/22 Villa 1-1 Palace
- 27/11/21 Palace 1-2 Villa
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 11/05/24 Wolves 1-3 Palace
- 06/05/24 Palace 4-0 United
- 27/04/24 Fulham 1-1 Palace
- 24/04/24 Palace 2-0 Newcastle
- 21/04/24 Palace 5-2 West Ham
Last FIVE results for Villa;
- 13/05/24 Villa 3-3 Liverpool
- 09/05/24 Olympiacos 2-0 Villa
- 05/05/24 Brighton 1-0 Villa
- 02/05/24 Villa 2-4 Olympiacos
- 27/04/24 Villa 2-2 Chelsea
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 12th in the Premier League with 46 points from 37 games played, while Villa are 4th with 68.
RECORD AGAINST VILLA
- Played 52
- Won 14
- Drawn 15
- Lost 23
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Michael Olise 7.60
- Eberechi Eze 7.35
- Ollie Watkins 7.30
- John McGinn 7.02
ONE TO WATCH
OLLIE WATKINS
FORMER CLUBS – Exeter City, Weston-super-Mare (loan), Brentford
The former Brentford striker has played a big part in what has been an excellent season for Villa by finishing fourth in the Premier League and qualifying for the Champions League. His 19 league goals so far this season has him in fourth place in the golden boot standings and will be a big threat at Selhurst Park this weekend.
KEY CLASH
MICHAEL OLISE v EZRI KONSA
The Frenchman did not get a call up for the full Euro squad but Olise is rumoured to be included by Thierry Henry for the Olympic squad this summer. Since returning from injury he shown how much he has been missed this season and made us all wonder just what could have been. He will be up against an England international in what will be an interesting match up.
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Mateta (12 – 13th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Ayew (7)
- PASSES – Andersen (2065– 17th in PL)
- TACKLES – Mitchell (102 – 5th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Andersen (2576– 15th in PL)
- SHOTS – Eze (78 – 16th in PL)
- FOULS – Ayew (45)
- DISPOSSESSED – Ayew (79 – 4th in PL)
- SAVES – Henderson (56 – 19th in PL)
- CLEARANCES – Andersen (197 – 1st in PL)
- BIG CHANCES MISSED – Mateta (7)
THE NUMBERS
Palace have won more Premier League home games against Villa than they have against any other opponent (7), including 6 of their past 8 against them at Selhurst Park.
Following their 3-1 win against them in the reverse fixture – Villa are looking to complete their first league double over Palace since 1980-81 – when they most recently won the English top-flight title.
This will be the 12th time Palace have finished a top-flight season with a home match and they are unbeaten in their previous 11.
Villa have won just 1 of the 25 occasions they have finished a league season with an away game (D7 L17), with the one victory a 3-1 win against Chelsea in 2001-02.
TEB PREDICTION
Absolutely nothing riding on this game for either team, but Palace fans will certainly have one eye on the possibility of the Eagles finishing above Brighton this season and a top ten finish quite possible. This run of games has been quite remarkable and we are fully expecting Palace to end the season on a high with a narrow victory against a side that will be very much celebrating after the Champions League qualification.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1
RESOURCES
