At A Glance
The race for a top-ten finish in the Premier League heats up when Crystal Palace visit Villa Park on Sunday.
Both sides are hoping to break into the top half of the table over the final three games, with the Eagles sitting one place and one point above Aston Villa in 11th.
Patrick Vieira’s team have won their last two matches following a 1-0 home success against Watford last time out.
Wilfried Zaha grabbed the winner in that game and the winger has shone for Palace this season, top scoring with 14 goals.
Villa gave a great account of themselves in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Tuesday night, a match which ended their three-game unbeaten run.
They return to B6 looking to improve on a home record that ranks them 15th in the Premier League, having won six of 17 matches.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa won the reverse fixture against Crystal Palace 2-1 in November. They’ve not done the league double over the Eagles since 1980-81, a season they last won the top-flight title.
Crystal Palace have won just one of their nine Premier League away games against Aston Villa (D3 L5), winning 1-0 in December 2013. The Eagles have never scored more than once at Villa Park in the competition, failing to score on each of their last four visits.
Crystal Palace have won consecutive league games for just the second time this season, with the Eagles last winning more in a row between February and June 2020 (4).
Crystal Palace have kept five clean sheets in their last eight Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 25. They’ve kept 11 clean sheets overall this season, only keeping more in a 38-game Premier League campaign twice – 12 in both 2013-14 and 2018-19.
Crystal Palace have conceded a league-low 40% of their Premier League goals in the second half of games this season (17/42). Indeed, only the top two of Manchester City and Liverpool have conceded fewer after half-time than Patrick Vieira’s side (17).
Aston Villa’s John McGinn has scored in each of his last two Premier League games against Crystal Palace He’s not scored more league goals against any other opponent in his career across England and Scotland than he has versus the Eagles (2).
Aston Villa striker Danny Ings has scored five goals in his last six Premier League starts against Crystal Palace – against no side has he scored more often in the top-flight than he has against the Eagles (5).
The Last Meeting
Steven Gerrard’s first away game as Aston Villa head coach ended in victory at Selhurst Park back in late November.
Matt Targett netted his first goal in over two years to give Villa the lead before John McGinn doubled the advantage with a stunning strike.
Marc Guehi pulled one back in injury time, but Villa held on to pick up a big three points.
Team News
Ollie Watkins limped off in midweek against Liverpool, but the striker has a chance to be fit for the game.
Jacob Ramsey has returned to training and is likely to return to the squad, while Leon Bailey and Kortney Hause are Villa’s only confirmed absentees.
Palace are sweating on the fitness of Marc Guehi and Vicente Guaita ahead of the game.
Nathan Ferguson and James McArthur are sidelined.
The Boss
“He’s (Patrick Vieira) been named today on a shortlist for Manager of the Year, so that says everything about his debut campaign. He felt ready to come back into the Premier League and he took a similar job to myself, a team that was down in the league. He recruited extremely well and changed the style from the Roy Hodgson era. Crystal Palace are playing with a bit more flair and style and they’ve got some really bright attacking players. He’s building something really good there.”
Steven Gerrard
