It is a bottom of the table battle when 17th placed Norwich travel to Selhurst Park to take on a struggling Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Eagles are still without a win since the start of the year and have plummeted down the table from ninth to 16th in that time after only managing three points from a possible 26. Their home record all season has been something that has been holding them back, only winning four games out of a possible 16, so there are two records that they will be looking to improve.
Norwich find themselves in a good position moving into this game having beaten West Bromwich away and Newcastle at home, while also getting a surprise draw with Manchester City in their last three matches.
The game has ramifications on the battle to avoid relegation, if the Canaries are able to secure a rare away victory they will draw level on points with Alan Pardew’s side, as only seven points separate Crystal Palace and the 18th placed Sunderland.
Key Battle – Yannick Bolasie vs Norwich defence
In the last couple of weeks the impact of Yannick Bolasie has become more apparent as he regains his match fitness and looks to return to the form that saw Palace flying up the table. If the distribution from the midfield is up to a better standard than they were providing in the game against West Ham, it will help Bolasie to become more threatening and thus the team will be able to create. A point of difficulty of late has been the lack of the some really good and consistent chances.
CrownBet match odds at time of publishing
The duty of trying to limit the impact of the Congolese winger will fall to Andre Wisdom, but it would seem likely that Bolasie will be roaming so the defence will have to be alert to the danger that he possesses. Given that they conceded two goals last time out against Newcastle they will be looking to sort out those issues, because if they do give Bolasie too much space he will be able to cause some real damage.
Team News
Palace will be approaching this game lacking a recognised striker with both Emmanuel Adebayor and Connor Wickham doubtful to return for this weekend. They will also be without record signing Yohan Cabaye who has not recovered from a knock, but given that the Frenchman has been struggling in recent weeks, this may not be as big a loss as would be first thought.
Norwich will be able to name an unchanged line-up which will help them as they look to continue their unbeaten run and move further away from the relegation zone.
Head-to-head
In the previous five meetings in the Premier League has the record split at one win a piece with the other three games ending in draws.
Previous Meeting
The meeting earlier this year at Carrow Road went in favour of Crystal Palace 3-1, after goals from Wilfried Zaha, Damien Delaney and Yohan Cabaye.
Prediction
Both sides will be looking to try and put some space between themselves and the relegation zone so the game will be a tight affair with neither team wanting to give the other any breathing room or easy chances, which is something that Palace have not been good at, but all bad runs end eventually.
Crystal Palace 2 Norwich 1
*CrownBet match odds at time of publishing are subject to change
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