Crystal Palace will play hosts to Norwich City this Tuesday night as the two clubs look to regain some form heading into 2022 with the Canaries staring in the face of the Championship once again just as Patrick Vieira’s men slip closer to the drop zone.
In reality, Palace should be safe this season when we get to May, as they have a healthy seven-point gap on Watford in 17th. However, Burnley now have three games in hand on the club and should they pick up a decent amount of points, they'll be dragged even closer into the battle.
Thank you all for your incredible support yesterday ❤️💙#CPFC pic.twitter.com/06FNwRprdC— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 27, 2021
Thank you all for your incredible support yesterday ❤️💙#CPFC pic.twitter.com/06FNwRprdC
However, what should keep the Eagles safe is not their own form but the lack of from other sides. Ahead of this clash, they now have only two wins in their past 13 games following their recent 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
That result against Spurs just about sums up their season so far as they’ve managed to now lose to and beat them 3-0 this season, with that victory over them coming in the midst of great form back in September, before they now lost to Spurs during a torrid spell.
In December, however, they did manage to draw with Southampton and beat Everton, so it's not the worst month for them and it shows how they may just survive.
More worryingly now though is their lack of goals scored as Odsonne Edouard has barely got going since his stunning debut, just as Christian Benteke further extended his goalscoring drought.
As for Norwich, they practically have one foot back in the Championship already after yet another defeat on home soil as they were thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal and made an alarming amount of errors that were severely punished.
The club now sit bottom of the table and should they lose here, they will end 2021 in that position and set up a dramatic final few months where they will be battling for survival.
But in reality, however, the Canaries are as bad as we’ve seen in the Premier League these past few years, as they’ve now scored just eight times and let in 39 goals and lost 12 of their 18 games.
Now, with only two wins on the board, Dean Smith is in another relegation battle just as he was with Aston Villa a few years back, and in that season where he miraculously finished a point above the drop zone, Norwich are banking on a miracle of a similar magnitude.
Forebet predicts Smith’s men will lose here again as Vieira and Palace rack up another win in their aims to get back into the top 10 in a game that will see over 2.5 goals.