The Spaniard though is the only alteration to Roy Hodgson’s starting line-up that lost their last league encounter 2-1 to Watford after recovering from injury, which is also the case for Wayne Hennessey who is back on the bench for the trip to St Mary’s.
The likes of Luka Milivojevic, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho and James McArthur all return to the side having been rested for the cup win, while Christian Benteke and Connor Wickham are included on a strong bench.
As to be expected, Southampton have made no changes to their team that beat Everton 2-1 in their last match, which due to being knocked out of the FA Cup at the third round stage has handed them an 11-day gap between games.
That means former Palace man Alex McCarthy will face his former club once again, and Danny Ings starts in attack alongside Nathan Redmond.
Southampton: McCarthy, Bednarek, Stephens, Vestergaard, Valery, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Targett, Redmond, Ings. Subs: Gunn, Ramsey, Slattery, Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Gallagher, Long.
Palace: Guaita, Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, Van Aanholt, Kouyaté, Milivojevic, McArthur, Townsend, Zaha, Ayew. Subs: Hennessey, Kelly, Dann, Schlupp, Meyer, Wickham, Benteke.