After a sluggish start to the season, during which they won just one of their first seven matches, Crystal Palace had been enjoying a revival in October – coming from behind to beat Leeds United 2-1 on home soil before repeating the same scoreline against Wolves.
As a result, Patrick Vieira’s men climbed into the top half of the table; however, they are yet to get off the mark with a win on their travels this term, following a chastening 3-0 reverse at Goodison Park last weekend.
Having failed to take points from the first of a relatively friendly fixture list leading up to the World Cup, the Eagles will aim to follow defeat to Everton with a better outcome from games against Southampton, West Ham United and Nottingham Forest.
With their next three matches away from home – including an EFL Cup tie at Newcastle United – Palace are now intent on winning a third straight Premier League home game for the first time since May 2018.
As they have their last two in front of Selhurst Park’s notoriously noisy supporters, despite conceding the first goal on both occasions, Vieira should expect another resilient display this week.
While Palace came out on top in their most recent contest with Southampton, back in April, the South London side have never won successive Premier League matches against Saturday’s visitors. Doing so now would pull them four points clear of their counterparts and inch them back towards the top half.
Perhaps surprisingly, then, Saints have lost just three of their 13 Premier League visits to Crystal Palace in the past – though they are winless in their last two at Selhurst Park.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side will hope to reverse that trend on Saturday, having enjoyed an upturn in results of late, with victory at Bournemouth coming between draws against West Ham and Arsenal. That provides some relief for a struggling outfit which previously endured four straight losses.
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Still just three points above the relegation zone, in 16th place, Southampton surely face a long hard slog to retain their top-flight status, but there are signs that they have the stomach for such a fight.
They have gained eight points from losing positions in the Premier League this term, including one in last week’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal, when Stuart
Armstrongequalised midway through the second half after an earlier onslaught by the Gunners – that represents just a point fewer than the entirety of last season.
Some things do not change, though, as goals remain hard to come by for Hassenhuttl’s men, who have scored only four times on the road so far.
