Crystal Palace welcome an in-form Burnley side fighting for survival to Selhurst Park on Saturday, 26th February, as they look to build on their emphatic victory at Vicarage Road last time out.
Earlier this campaign, the two sides produced one of the games of the season in the north-west, including a bumper five-goal first-half.
After Christian Benteke opened the scoring at Turf Moor, Ben Mee and Chris Wood hit back from set-pieces to leave the Eagles behind – but not for long. Benteke added a second before Marc Guéhi saw Palace regain the lead before the break.
It ended level however after Maxwel Cornet’s exceptional volleyed finish.
It’s fair to say that the emphatic victory at Watford on Wednesday night was a long time coming for Crystal Palace and Patrick Vieira. Defeat to Chelsea was the latest in a series of positive performances to go without a just reward, and the manager will have been relieved at the clinical nature of his side, and Wilfried Zaha in particular.
“People will talk about the two goals he scored and I think it was fantastic for the team, but what I loved about Wilfried today was his work ethic,” Vieira said after the game.
“The way he supported Tyrick [Mitchell], how he made it really difficult for Watford to build on their right-hand side. Out of possession, it was I believe his best game since I’ve been here.”
A first win in five meant a change of outlook for the Eagles, sitting comfortably in 11th place just four points off Brighton & Hove Albion in ninth – and with the chance to claim a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals at home to Stoke City on Tuesday.
For Burnley, the outlook is less rosy – although a superb run of form has given them hope of unlikely Premier League survival.
Despite coming into this match in the relegation zone, a hugely impressive victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night means they are just two points off safety with a game in hand on Newcastle United directly above them.
The Clarets saw off Brighton at the Amex before that win, and after creditable draws against Manchester United and Arsenal since the turn of the year they are within a shot of safety once again.
Palace will hope that a return to Selhurst Park can inspire another positive display, after difficult trips not just to Watford but to Norwich City and Brentford in their past four games.
Conor Gallagher made an emphatic return to the side at Vicarage Road, scoring a sensational goal. He joined up with Cheikhou Kouyaté and Will Hughes in midfield, as Vieira returned to the 4-3-3 formation that has been his go-to so far this season.
With the return of James McArthur to full fitness – who set up Zaha’s excellent second goal on Wednesday – the manager is spoilt for choice in midfield.
Much of Burnley’s recent uptick in form can be put down to the sensational impact of their new signing in attack: Wout Weghorst. The big Dutchman, standing at six feet and six inches tall and signed from Wolfsburg in January, was brought in to replace the departed Chris Wood. He has done so to tremendous effect, scoring his first Premier League goal at the Amex last weekend.
After limiting Romelu Lukaku to a record-low seven touches during Palace’s Selhurst outing against Chelsea, Joachim Andersen and Marc Guéhi will hope to have a similar effect on Burnley’s target man.
Saturday, 26th February
15:00 GMT
Selhurst Park
Live audio commentary on Palace TV+
Live audio commentary Palace v Burnley will be available on Palace TV+, a subscription service which gives subscribers live access to selected Academy match broadcasts, live audio commentary of all league and cup first-team games, and much more.
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