Crystal Palace will travel to Turf Moor on Saturday to take on newly-promoted Burnley who have been pretty impressive this season. The Clarets stunned the football fraternity last week by restricting Manchester United to a 0-0 draw last weekend.
Tom Heaton made some superhuman stops for Sean Dyche’s side as the Red Devils were left frustrated after the final whistle. In the previous game, they upset Ronald Koeman’s Everton with a 2-1 win.
Even though Crystal Palace and Burnley share the same number of points after 10 games, the momentum is clearly with the Clarets. Crystal Palace are on the back of a 3-game losing streak which includes losses against West Ham United, Leicester City and Liverpool. Alan Pardew’s boys had a five-game unbeaten streak before that but their confidence will be low right now.
Crystal Palace tried their level best to upset high-flying Liverpool last week and came back twice in the game but they eventually had to surrender to the quality of the Liverpool attack. Burnley is a completely different setup who play defensive football and it will be a big question whether Palace can break their defence or not. Here is the predicted Crystal Palace lineup against Burnley-
Defence
Steve Mandanda will start between the sticks ahead of Welsh international Wayne Hennessey. Joel Ward is likely to continue in the right-back position. Crystal Palace’s best defender and club captain Scott Dann will keep his place at the heart of the defence and is likely to be accompanied by James Tomkins. Martin Kelly will start at left-back with Pape Souare injured on a long-term after hurting himself in a nasty car crash.
Midfield
James McArthur is likely to continue in defensive midfield where he has done really well this season impressing both with his defensive and attacking abilities. The Scotsman scored a brace against Liverpool last week but his good work was undone by his teammates as the Eagles eventually lost the game.
We expect Joe Ledley to start alongside McArthur at the heart of the defence. Yohan Cabaye will start as an advanced playmaker against Burnley to provide the extra creativity Crystal Palace need to break down Burnley’s resolute defence.
Attack
Christian Benteke has started his career at Crystal Palace really well but he has been disappointing lately. However, Pardew is likely to stick to the Belgian up front. We expect Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend to start on the flanks.
