Palace tonight, Forest last time out and match facts from the BBC
It's nearly a week since I posted and after three weeks off for Christmas, I'm back in the office for a few hours today but the football continues and tonight it's another trip to London, this time at Crystal Palace.
And it feels a little like Palace are our current bogey team and that's down to how they line up and the manager getting the most out of their players.
There can be little debate that they surprised everyone last season and Oliver Glasner rightly got a lot of praise for that. But right now they sit fourteenth in the table. But that, as we all know isn't the full story. They might be 14th, but they are only four points from fifth place.
It's a very interesting season and I guess the way Glasner is getting this team to play is one of the reasons he's apparently quite high up the list to take over at Manchester United. I say high up on the list, the manager at the top of their list is currently our manager and that is probably the single reason why I have a little confidence about tonight.
This isn't me getting carried away. It's me saying I have confidence that on our day we can beat anyone and it doesn't matter who we are playing. That said, it's Palace and like I wrote above, it does feel a little like they are our bogey team. So, call it nervous confidence.
But we need to maintain the cushion we have and the only way we do that is by winning and we've had a few days off now, so we should be firing on all cylinders and with the managers usual approach and the 100% commitment from the players, I'm sure we'll get the right result. See what I did there?
Match facts from the BBC
Following their 3-0 win at Villa Park in August, Crystal Palace are looking to complete their first league double over Aston Villa since 2013-14.
Aston Villa have lost three of their last four Premier League games against Crystal Palace (D1). They’ve conceded 14 goals in these four games, as many as they had in their previous 15 against the Eagles in the competition.
Crystal Palace have won nine of their 13 Premier League home games against Aston Villa (D2 L2), including six of the last seven and the last three in a row. It’s their most home wins against any opponent in the competition.
This is Aston Villa’s fourth consecutive away league game in London (W2 L1 previously), the first time they’ve played four in a row in the capital since between December and February in the 1989-90 campaign, a run from which they took three wins and a defeat.
Crystal Palace are winless in their last five home Premier League matches (D2 L3), their worst run without a victory at Selhurst Park since going seven between September and December 2023 under Roy Hodgson.
Crystal Palace have lost four of their last five Premier League games (D1), more than their previous 21 beforehand (W9 D9 L3).
Aston Villa have picked up 42 points in their 20 Premier League games this season (W13 D3 L4), while a win here would have them on 45+ points from their opening 21 matches of a league campaign for just the third time (assuming 3 pts/win all-time), after 1895-96 (45) and 1898-99 (48), both seasons in which they won the top-flight title.
In all competitions, Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has never lost against Aston Villa’s Unai Emery in six meetings (W5 D1). It’s the most Glasner has faced another manager without losing, while as a top-flight manager it’s the most Emery has faced another manager without winning.
Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has been involved in more Premier League goals against Aston Villa than he has any other opponent (9 – 6 goals, 3 assists), with eight of these coming in his last five appearances against the Villans.
Since the start of December, no player has scored more Premier League goals than Ollie Watkins (6, level with Dominic Calvert-Lewin). The Aston Villa striker is looking to score in 4+ consecutive appearances in the competition for just the third time, and first since April 2023.
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