After securing their place in the FA Cup semi-finals, Crystal Palace will turn their focus back to Premier League action for Wednesday’s meeting with Southampton at St Mary’s.
Palace are sitting in 12th place with 39 points to their name, while the Saints are languishing at the bottom of the table with just nine points from 29 matches.
Match preview
There may be nine games left to play, but Southampton will already be drawing up plans for an immediate return to the Championship after enduring a difficult top-flight campaign.
The Saints have lost 24 of their 29 Premier League games this season (W2, D3), including defeats in each of their last five league matches since beating Ipswich Town at the start of February.
Paul Onuachu came off the bench to halve the deficit in Southampton’s final game before the international break against 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, but the Saints were unable to find an elusive equaliser in the 2-1 defeat, ensuring they are now 17 points adrift of safety.
While relegation may be a formality, Southampton will still be determined to pick up three more points between now and the end of the season to surpass Derby County’s 11-point tally from 2007-08, which remains the worst points total in Premier League history.
The Saints will also be concerned they are one game away from becoming the third team to lose 10 consecutive top-flight home games, after Birmingham City lost 10 in a row in 1985-86 and Watford lost 11 home league matches on the bounce in 2021-22.
Having lost their last two head-to-head home games, the Saints will head into the midweek contest with hopes of beating Palace at St Mary’s for the first time since May 2021.
Palace will be in high spirits after they sealed their place in the FA Cup semi-finals for the second time in four seasons with a commanding display against Fulham in Saturday’s last-eight clash at Craven Cottage.
Eberechi Eze found the net just five days after he scored his first international goal in England’s 3-0 win over Latvia, before he provided an assist for Ismaila Sarr to double Palace’s advantage.
Eddie Nketiah came off the bench to round off the scoring in a 3-0 victory, as the Eagles cruised to a comfortable win to keep their hopes alive of winning the FA Cup for the first time in their history.
Not only did they set up a semi-final clash with Aston Villa, but they also created history by becoming the first top-flight side to win six consecutive away matches in all competitions without conceding a goal.
Oliver Glasner‘s side will now turn their attention to Premier League action, with the visitors set to head into the midweek fixture as one of the most in-form sides in the division, having collected 22 points from their last 10 top-flight outings – a tally that has only been bettered by Liverpool across the same number of games.
The visitors will take confidence from the fact they have won each of their previous four Premier League meetings with Southampton, including a 2-1 victory in December’s reverse fixture thanks to goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Eze.
Team News
Southampton defender James Bree and midfielder Will Smallbone hope to recover from their respective injury issues in time for Wednesday’s fixture.
Ross Stewart has been seen participating in full training, although it is unclear whether he is ready to make a matchday squad for the first time since October.
The Saints will have to assess the fitness of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who left the England Under-21 squad after he picked up a thigh injury.
Harwood-Bellis’s fellow defender Jan Bednarek was forced off at half time of Poland’s 2-0 win over Malta as a precautionary measure, but he should be fit to return to the Southampton starting lineup after missing the defeat to Wolves with a concussion.
As for the visitors, Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure remain sidelined with knee injuries, while Joel Ward is expected to miss a second straight game with a calf problem.
Midfielder Will Hughes could come into the matchday squad as long as he recovers from the illness that kept him out of Saturday’s FA Cup win.
Hughes may have to settle for a place on the bench, with Glasner likely to name an unchanged lineup for Wednesday’s trip to St. Mary’s.
Palace’s star forward Jean-Phillipe Mateta will continue to lead the line after he played 70 minutes against Fulham in his first appearance since he suffered a horrific ear injury in the fifth-round cup clash with Millwall.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Bella-Kotchap, Bednarek; Ugochukwu, Aribo, Manning; Dibling, Sulemana, Onuachu
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta
We say: Southampton 1-3 Crystal Palace
In contrast to Southampton, Palace will be full of confidence after winning each of their last five competitive matches, and we think the Eagles will continue to build momentum by claiming a relatively comfortable victory over a side that have lost their previous nine Premier League home games.
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