Last weekend, mid-table Aston Villa headed to Goodison Park staring down the barrel of a fourth straight Premier League (PL) defeat for the first time this season. However, they battled to an impressive 2-0 win over Everton, leading manager Unai Emery to claim he was particularly proud of how his team “reacted very well” to some moments in which they were under real pressure.
They now head back to Villa Park to welcome a Crystal Palace side who they’ve avoided defeat against in each of their last five home clashes (W3, D2). They also conceded just a single goal during that run, which could be a good omen for a team that conceded more PL goals than any other during the month of February (11).
The visitors sit just one place below Villa in the table, although there is some concern developing around Selhurst Park as the Eagles remain the only PL side yet to taste a league victory in 2023 (D5, L3). Despite that, they are still one point better off than they were after the same number of matches of the last campaign - one in which they finished 12th - so any fears of an impending relegation battle are still premature.
Manager Patrick Vieira will still be all too aware they could yet be dragged into the fight to stay up so he’ll want to snap a run of three straight draws with a win. The key to doing so might be starting contests with more conviction as Palace haven’t netted a first-half goal since New Year’s Eve, while only Southampton have scored fewer match opening goals than their total of seven coming into the round.
Key battle: After his strike at Goodison Park, red-hot Ollie Watkins became the first Aston Villa player to score in five consecutive PL appearances. Trying to keep him quiet will be Palace defensive midfielder Cheick Doucouré who has made the joint-most interceptions in the PL this season (41).
Hot stat: Ahead of this gameweek, only Bournemouth have conceded more goals from set-pieces than Aston Villa (12). #crystalpalace #astonvilla
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