Crystal Palace vs Southampton preview, predictions & possible XIs
Crystal Palace will be hoping to build on a positive result against Manchester City when they welcome Southampton to Selhurst Park in midweek.
The Eagles drew 2-2 at the home of the champions to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to five games – albeit with four consecutive draws.
They currently sit ninth in the table, four places and two points ahead of opponents Southampton whose own unbeaten run came to an end at the weekend.
The Saints went into their game against Wolves unbeaten in five and looked set to extend that run to six after they took a 2-0 lead but they ended up falling to a 3-2 defeat. Can Southampton return to winning ways, or will the Palace bandwagon roll on?
Read on for our Crystal Palace vs Southampton preview, predictions, team news and TV coverage information.
When is Crystal Palace vs Southampton and where can I watch live?
Competition: Premier League
Venue: Selhurst Park
Date: Tuesday, 21 January 2020
Kick-off: 7:30 PM (UK time)
TV coverage (UK): N/A
Last five meetings: Crystal Palace vs Southampton
28 December 2019: Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace (Premier League)
30 January 2019: Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace (Premier League)
01 September 2018: Crystal Palace 0-2 Southampton (Premier League)
02 January 2018: Southampton 1-2 Crystal Palace (Premier League)
16 September 2017: Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton (Premier League)
Aggregate Score: Crystal Palace (DDLWL) 4-6 Southampton (DDWLW)
Ones to watch
Crystal Palace: Cenk Tosun
The one thing Crystal Palace have been missing this season is a goalscoring striker, with only Andre Ayew performing in that regard. But it appears they finally have someone capable of leading the line in Cenk Tosun.
Tosun joined on loan from Everton earlier this month and scored on his first start, courtesy of a good header from a set piece by capitalising on some poor Man City defending.
The Turkish striker caused Man City‘s defence problems throughout the game and will be hoping to do the same against Southampton this week.
Key stat: No player completed more take-ons than Cenk Tosun (five) in Crystal Palace’s 2-2 draw with Man City.
Southampton: Shane Long
All the talk surrounding Southampton in recent weeks has been about Danny Ings but on Saturday, Shane Long showed he can cover for the Englishman.
Should Ings be rested – more on that in a bit – Long will be required to lead the line for Southampton to try and get them back on track. The Irishman took his goal against Wolves really well, getting himself ahead of the defender to head in Cedric’s cross after Ings had missed the ball.
It ended a long goal drought for Long and also backed up Ralph Hasenhuttl’s recent faith in the 32-year-old, saying: “Shane Long is a really important player for us.
“He’s doing so well for us, he’s always there, working so hard and he’s so well-liked by the squad.”
Key stat: Shane Long’s goal against Wolves was his first Premier League strike in 266 days.
Team news
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace remain without the likes of Andros Townsend, Jeffrey Schlupp, Max Meyer, Patrick van Aanholt, Mamadou Sakho and Christian Benteke through injury. Tosun is expected to lead the line once more after an impressive full debut at the weekend, but Ayew will be hoping he is recalled.
Luka Milivojevic is serving the final game of his three-match ban.
Predicted XI: Guaita; Kelly, Tomkins, Cahill, Ward; Kouyate, McArthur, McCarthy; Ayew, Tosun, Zaha.
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Southampton
Southampton are practically free from injury but will be without Jan Bednarek who picked up an Achilles injury in the defeat to Wolves, despite playing the full 90 minutes.
He joins Yan Valery on the sidelines as Southampton’s only absentees, with Jannik Vestergaard the likely man to replace Bednarek. Hasenhuttl could be persuaded to rest Ings from the start of the game if he has one eye on Southampton’s FA Cup tie with Tottenham next weekend.
Predicted XI: McCarthy; Cedric, Stephens, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Djenepo, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Redmond; Obafemi, Long.
Squawka prediction
This will be a close match which could come down to how much Southampton value their FA Cup progression and the rotation that may come with it.
Palace were good value for their draw with Man City but were also slightly fortunate to come up against Pep Guardiola‘s side in a wasteful mood. Meanwhile, Southampton will no doubt be slightly downhearted after losing their 2-0 lead to Wolves despite looking comfortable early on.
With that said, a draw could well be on the cards as both sides cancel each other out.
Scoreline prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Southampton
Check out more of Squawka’s Premier League predictions here.
