Placed rock-bottom in the league table, Crystal Palace would need quite a lot of miracles in order to save their ship from sinking this season in the Premier League. The Eagles have collected merely 5 points from 12 league games so far but their 2-2 draw against Everton last weekend should have upped their morale.
On Saturday, Roy Hodgson’s side welcome Stoke City at the Selhurst Park and at the onset, it seems to have the ingredients of a competitive fixture. As far as Crystal Palace are concerned, their absentees are Connor Wickham and Chung-Yong Lee and here is how Hodgson is likely to dish out his starting line-up against the Potters.
Defence
Julian Speroni should be the man with the gloves between the sticks for the Eagles and how he manages to ply his trade this weekend would have a massive say in the final outcome of the game.
Ahead of him, we expect a central defensive pairing of Mamadou Sakho and Scott Dunn. These two didn’t have a great time together against the Toffees and they would be aiming to get their basics rights against Stoke City.
At the right-back position, Joel Ward is likely to be seen from the very beginning as his industry down the left and the manner he maintains a fine balance between his offensive and defensive endeavours is required to be used. On the other side, Jeffrey Schlupp should be given the nod to start.
Midfield
The backline is anticipated to be shielded by the duo comprising of Yohan Cabaye and Luka Milivojevic. Both Cabaye and Milivojevic would need to get into the scheme of things, dictate the tempo of the game and have to knit the side together as a unit.
Chelsea loanee, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is likely to be handed the role of the no.10 against Hughes’ men after his fine show last weekend.
Attack
From the right-wing, Wilfried Zaha is expected to start owing to his vision, raw pace and ability to penetrate past the defence whereas, from the left-wing, Andros Townsend should be given a start once again, although he needs to improve his decision-making process and should try to better his end products.
Right up front, it would be wise to start Christian Benteke for the first time since his injury in the fixture against Manchester City. The Belgian was used as a substitute against Everton and impressed to a considerable extent.
