Crystal Palace are travelling to the St. Mary’s Stadium to face Southampton for their first match of the year. The Saint’s are coming off an impressive draw at Old Trafford against Jose Mourinho’s men and have climbed up to the 13th spot of the points table behind Brighton & Hove Albion. The Manchester giants threw everything they could at the visitors but were left frustrated to drop crucial point and lose their second spot to Chelsea.
Although not the best season for the Saints, Mauricio Pellegrino’s men have had a rough December. Facing the likes of Arsenal, Leicester City, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United within a span of 30 days puts a huge strain on the players, but that is the price you pay for playing in top-flight English football.
Mauricio Pellegrino has also faced his problems in terms of injuries not to mention the exit of Virgil Van Dijk to Liverpool.
He will be eager to start the year off on a high and snatch 3 points away from a club fighting to escape relegation this season.
Pellegrino is expected to field his men in the 4-2-3-1 formation.
Defence
After appearing for 76 consecutive matches for the club, Fraser Forster was dropped from the starting XI in the previous fixture against Manchester United. No reasons were pointed out and Alex McCarthy replaced him in between the sticks. He was praised by Pellegrino after his display and is expected to start again for this matchup.
Jack Stephens was impressive in the previous fixture, however, might just be a bit too fatigued to appear for this match. With Cedric Soares still sidelined with an injury, Jeremy Pied is predicted to start in the right-back position.
Maya Yoshida and Wesley Hoedt are the top picks to pair up in the centre-back roles.
Matt Targett was given a breather in the last fixture and is expected to return to the lineup for this match in the left-back role, with Ryan Bertrand currently going through a fitness test.
Midfield
Mario Lemina might be paired up with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in the defensive midfield position.
Sofiane Boufal was a handful for the Manchester United defence but might not feature in the starting line-up for this match. Nathan Redmond is expected to replace him in the left wing position with Dusan Tadic on the right.
Steven Davis might make a return to the attacking midfield-position and James Ward-Prowse can expect a late call-up if required.
Attack
With Shane Long stretching his goal-less run to 35 games now and Charlie Austin nursing an injury, Manolo Gabbiadini is predicted to get the nod in the lone striker role.
