Crystal Palace – Southampton

Crystal Palace won’t be crushing an outsider

On Sunday, 29 December, will be an important match in terms of the fight for survival. Crystal Palace at home will take the worst club in the APL Southampton. "Saints" are the main candidates for relegation. Crystal Palace came out of the crisis, but still not distanced from the danger zone. In the last round, Glazner's wards achieved a draw in the away game with Bournemouth. Before that, the positive momentum was lost because of the defeat from Arsenal - 1:5. A big trump card for the coach is the return of key midfielder Ismaila Sarr. The Senegalese are already in the starting line-up. Of the new losses is the injury to Will Hughes. Various injuries remain a big problem for Crystal Palace. There are still six players missing. In particular, Adam Wharton is out for an extended period of time. The young England midfielder is not expected on the pitch in the upcoming matches. Crystal Palace is one of the most unlucky clubs in the APL in terms of attack. The realisation is very disappointing: 29 goals were created, but only nineteen were scored. A bad season for the attacking group. At the same time, Eberechi Eze was a serious threat in the match against Bournemouth. There are positive signs of a breakthrough at least from him. At Southampton, there is no hope for a miracle anymore. The club was simply not ready for the top league after the rise in class. "Saints" scored six points - this is a verdict in terms of the fight for survival. The resignation of coach Russell Martin didn't help much either. Together with Ivan Juric managed to snatch a draw away from Fulham, but then lost to West Ham at home. The result was not for the cause. The hosts created chances for more than two goals, but failed to realise the chances. Juric will be building a disciplined game. Southampton will clearly abandon the strange for an outsider short draws. Some serious reinforcements are possible under the winter transfer window, but so far Southampton are rightly put as outsiders in almost all matches. Crystal Palace is a systematic team. The team is very good at using clever pressing. Southampton will have one more match to play in deep defence. At the same time, the odds of 1.60 on the home team are probably too low. There is no such difference in class between the rivals. It is logical to pay attention to the total. For some reason, bookmakers expect the rivals to score even four goals, but personal meetings suggest the opposite scenario: the opponents have not scored more than three goals in four consecutive games. Southampton on a difficult away trip will be happy to cling on to a draw, while Crystal Palace, even if they score, may opt for a cautious plan. Still, the calendar is too difficult, and the rotation of the hosts is reduced due to injuries.