Crystal Palace host Arsenal at Selhurst Park on Saturday in their latest Premier League game with both sides looking to push on from their respective positions in the table.
We have all of the latest news in one place on this midweek as we look ahead to the fixture that could see stewards wearing body cameras for the first time in the wake of two coin throwing incidents from the Holmesdale stand in games against Newcastle United and Liverpool last week when opposing players celebrated in-front of the stand.
The club released a statement yesterday on the issue alongside a separate one from Stephen Browett on the BBS forum that condemned the actions of the fans that threw coins towards players of the opposition last week and said that any supporter found throwing objects towards the pitch will be banned from the stadium indefinitely.
“The throwing of any object is totally unacceptable and we wish to make it clear that any supporter who does this will be banned from the stadium indefinitely, as well as risking prosecution for a criminal offence. If they are a season ticket holder their card will be made void without refund,” he said.
“The club already has a number of security measures in place, including body cameras for stewards, and is currently improving cctv coverage. We would appreciate the help of other supporters in identifying the culprits – all true Palace fans will agree they are most definitely not welcome at Selhurst Park.”
You can read the view of one of our editors Chris Hambling on the issue with him discussing how the incident (Newcastle being the only one at the time) could damage the rights of fans – you can read it here.
Early Team News
Yannick Bolasie started against Newcastle last Wednesday, after arriving back from the African Cup of Nations just days before after his team DR Congo, picked up a third place in the tournament. The winger also featured against Liverpool on Saturday before being replaced by Zaha in the 71st minute.
He has been given 3-4 days off to recover from those games and resumes training with the team tomorrow with a start on Saturday possibly coming too early for the fan favourite.
Mile Jedinak who was also on international duty at the same time as Bolasie, picked up an ankle injury in his sides’ opening game of the tournament in which he scored a penalty. He went on to play a number of games after the group stages, picking up the trophy for his side after winning the final against South Korea.
The midfielder hasn’t featured for Palace since he returned from international duty at the end of last month and it looks as if this weekend’s game could also be too early for the midfielder who has only just started light training at the club’s Beckenham Training Ground.
Jonny Williams returned to training this week, leaving Jerome Thomas being one of the only Palace players still out for a considerable amount of time with a muscular injury alongside January signing Lee Chung Yong who suffered an injury with South Korea at the Asia Cup.
Yaya Sanogo will also miss out this weekend as he is currently on loan from the Emirates – even if he was at the club permanently, he would still be a doubt after picking up a hamstring injury during the week.
Is Souare Ready for the Premier League?
Crystal Palace signed Pape Souare in the January transfer window and after his work permit came through at the end of last week, the left-back is set to feature in his first Premier League game for the club on Saturday at Selhurst Park against Arsenal – a team that the Eagles lost to at the Emirates on the opening day of the season.
After writing a piece on Kwesi Appiah’s rise through the club which led to his African Cup of Nations call-up – Alistair Ship now casts his eye on Pape Souare and looks at whether he is ready for the challenges in the Premier League compared to his time in France with Lille.
You can read his piece by clicking here.
A Midfielder Who Has Stepped Up to the Mark
Two months ago we all started worrying about how we would deal with the absence of Mile Jedinak whilst he was on international duty with Australia but since Neil Warnock as told to find the exit after a Boxing Day defeat to Southampton and the appointment of Alan Pardew, all those fears disappeared as the former Newcastle boss brought the best out of the entire team.
James McArthur stepped up to the mark in that period, becoming a player that has controlled the midfield in the absence of Jedinak; all of this is visible in the graphic below which shows the -year-old’s Premier League performances under Alan Pardew with the first game in that run being against Tottenham of which the Eagles won 2-1 after the visitors scored the opening goal.
You can follow all our build-up to the game from tomorrow as Alan Pardew hosts his pre-match press conference at Selhurst Park in the afternoon. We will also have a full preview online on Friday whilst we also get a view from the opposition.
