Crystal Palace have picked up five points in their last four Premier League games and will be looking to bolster their points tally this weekend in what has been a very mixed set of results from the Eagles since the international break last month. Can Stoke City be the side that Neil Warnock uses to get his side into form?
The Eagles have secured a number of good results in the four game period with three points being secured against last season’s title chasers Liverpool and a point at both Swansea and Tottenham but now need to look to the smaller/similar teams in the division to pick full points from (after a defeat against Villa) and push away from a relegation zone that is open for seven teams with a set of bad results.
Saturday’s fixture between Palace and Stoke is only the third in the Premier League and after both teams secured victories at their respective home grounds last season, the bragging rights are up for grabs. Stoke fans will believe that they have the advantage, picking up two wins at Selhurst Park in their last three trips with the two victories coming at a time both teams were in the Championship in 2006 (1-0) and 2007 (3-1).
Hosts, Crystal Palace will be looking to close the gap on Stoke City this weekend as the visitors currently occupy 13th place in the Premier League table with 18 points, leaving them four points ahead of Neil Warnock’s side. The gap was a point more before the two sides squared up to each other in the same fixture last season as the Eagles were sat on the bottom of the table with 17 points, five points behind a 12th placed Stoke.
Will Palace fans be leaving Selhurst Park happy on Saturday evening?
Last Time Out: Crystal Palace 1 – 0 Stoke City
Jason Puncheon scored the only goal in the fixture at Selhurst Park last season in what was a tight affair with both teams having a fair amount of possession and a large amount of shots on goal but with a lack of quality in-front of goal for the visitors, Tony Pulis managed to secure a victory against his former side and also lift the Eagles from the bottom of the Premier League table.
It was more chances that the Potters managed to put together against Crystal Palace last season though at Selhurst Park as despite having 17 shots on goal, only two of them were on target with the rest either going high or wide. The graphic below shows Stoke’s pressure on goal (left) with eight of the shots being forced to be taken outside of the area with the rest being closer to goal; as to Palace’s defence, four of the shots (yellow) were blocked by defenders which was and still is a strong point of a Crystal Palace side.
At the other end of the pitch for the Eagles, they managed to have fewer shots but more on target with half of Tony Pulis’ sides’ shots causing some movement from Stoke goalkeeper Eric Pieters. Compared to Stoke, Crystal Palace only had five of their 12 shots from outside of the area with only two of those going wide as two were blocked by defenders and an 89th minute shot from distance by wonder-striker Aaron Wilbraham brought the Stoke keeper to attention who was forced to make a save.
Neil Warnock will be hoping for more of the same on Saturday and hopefully a similar result to get the festive period truly underway with this being Crystal Palace’s last game at Selhurst Park before Christmas. The Eagles’ strike force will need to be on top of their game, making the most of the chances being created by the wingers that are selected for the game instead of putting them to waste as has been noticeable in the last three games.
What Are The Stats, Stats Man?
– Crystal Palace have won 17, drawn three and lost seven games against Stoke City at Selhurst Park in league matches.
– The Potters have scored 23 goals on their visits to Selhurst Park in the league whilst conceding almost double with 40.
– The Eagles’ biggest result in the last ten years against Stoke in South London was in 2004 when Crystal Palace won 6-3.
– Stoke City have won two of their last three matches at Crystal Palace with both of those being in the Championship.
– Neil Wanock’s side have only won one of their last nine matches in the Premier League, drawing three and losing five.
– In their last six away games, the Potters have only won one game; drawing just one and losing the other four.
– Last weekend, Crystal Palace left White Hart Lane with their first clean sheet in eight games.
– Mark Hughes’ team have now gone nine Premier League games without keeping a clean sheet, a current league high.
– Since Mile Jedinak’s last goal, 245 Premier League minutes ago – Crystal Palace have failed to score another goal.
– The visitors to Selhurst Park have only won five games this season, all of which have been won by a goal.
– Crystal Palace have scored the most goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season with 11 whereas Stoke have conceded the most with nine.
– Stoke currently have the lowest shots on target percentage in the Premier League with 36.7%.
– Mile Jedinak has made the most interceptions in the top-flight so far this season compared to any other player with 56 to his name.
– Amongst goalkeepers that feature regularly, Begovic has only kept out 53.5% of shots on target; the lowest saves to shot ratio in the Premier League.
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