Alan Pardew will be looking to continue on his start as the manager of Crystal Palace this weekend with a trip to Southampton – the team that left his predecessor without a job after a run of poor performances in the Premier League.
The game will be played in-front of a capacity crowd at St Mary’s Stadium with tickets for both home and away supporters selling out within days of going on sale last week after the Saints disposed of Ipswich Town in the two sides’ third round replay after a goalless draw when the first two teams met on the first weekend in January.
It is set to be an entertaining game between the two sides with the hosts improving under the management of Ronald Koeman who has made it look like his side didn’t lose any of their key players in the summer to a host of Premier League clubs; he is wary of his opponents on Saturday who are currently on a three-game winning streak since the appointment of Alan Pardew who first seen off non-league club Dover in the third round of the FA Cup before wins against Tottenham at Selhurst Park and Burnley at Turf Moor last weekend with both of the fixtures requiring a comeback from the Eagles.
FA Cup Background
Southampton and Crystal Palace meet for the first time in the FA Cup since the semi-final between the two teams at Stamford Bridge in 1976 in which the Saints won to advance to the final where they played Manchester United at Wembley, defeating a side that included former Palace manager Steve Coppell by a goal to nil.
The Eagles will be looking to make it into the fifth round draw for this first time in five years, having not made it past the third round on two occasions against Coventry and Stoke whilst being knocked out by the latter in the fourth round last year alongside Derby as well in 2011/12.
Hosts, Southampton have had a similar record in the last five years with their only fifth round game being against Sunderland in 2013/14 with the south coast side reaching the fourth round on three occasions and not getting past the third against Chelsea in 2012/13.
Player Focus – Dwight Gayle
At the start of the season, nobody could have predicted that Dwight Gayle would have the season he is having at the moment – after raising questions last season about his capabilities, the player has gone off and worked hard on the training pitch throughout the summer and he is now starting to attract attention with Palace fans enjoying the ten goals he has contributed this season with half of those being in the Premier League.
Alan Pardew has already had a marvelous affect on the player since he arrived from Newcastle at the start of January with Gayle leading the goal scoring charts this month for the club with four goals whilst also scoring a goal and assist in a single Premier League game for the first time in his career. It could be a coincidence that the striker is hitting form now or it could be a sign of good things to come, either way he is attracting attention, and where there is attention – good performances can only come out of it surely?
Dwight Gayle is currently one of the most in-form English strikers in the Premier League at the moment, that cannot be questioned with the player currently scoring a goal every 121 minutes compared to the average of 180 minutes of the other six key English strikers in the division with only Charlie Austin (133) and Harry Kane (145) being the only other players to score a goal under every 150 minutes.
It isn’t just league games he is impressing either as in cup competitions for the Eagles this season, the 24-year-old has scored five goals – four in the League Cup and one in Palace’s third round FA Cup fixture against Dover in the first weekend of the month. Gayle managed to put three goals past Walsall in the first round of the Capital One Cup before putting another past Pardew’s Newcastle in the second round where the visitors to Selhurst Park progressed to the next stage of the competition.
Can Gayle’s force be a factor once more against Southampton?
What Are The Stats, Stats Man?
# Crystal Palace have won 24, drawn 16 and lost 36 games against Southampton in all competitions.
# The hosts, Southampton have scored 108 goals against Palace in all competitions whilst conceding 83.
# In cup competitions, the Eagles have won seven, drawn two and lost four against the Saints; scoring 14 goals and conceding 10.
# The Saints have only won seven of their last 23 FA Cup matches against Premier League opponents (W3, D4 & L16).
# Alan Pardew’s side have lost 12 of their last 28 matches against top flight opposition in the FA Cup, winning five and drawing 11.
# Southampton have won their last five games against Crystal Palace in all fixtures.
# The Eagles have progressed three times in FA Cup fixtures against Southampton with the Saints progressing on two occasions.
You can find full coverage of the game over on our Twitter page @EaglesElement throughout the day with comments and articles throughout the day with team line-ups at 2pm before full match commentary from 2:55pm with post-match coverage after the game.
