Follow live coverage as Crystal Palace face Aston Villa today in the Premier League. Another top-flight season will be covered in full right here with The Independent, as reigning champions Manchester City look to make it an unprecedented five titles in a row come the end of 2024/25.
The likes of Arsenal and Liverpool will be chasing Pep Guardiola's side, but just as fascinating will be the race for Champions League places, with more teams than ever before having designs on top-four finishes. Chelsea remain big-spending, Manchester United's latest rebuild continues and both Tottenham and Newcastle will expect improvements this year - yet it was Aston Villa who snared fourth last term.
Meanwhile, it's Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town who made it back to the elite after promotion last year and each will have hope they can make it more than a one-year stay. Follow the latest live action from the Premier League below:
Crystal Palace FC 1 - 0 Aston Villa FC
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:30Looking to the second half, Palace will definitely need another goal at least if they want to make sure of three points. Villa have already had two disallowed because of close offside calls, and they are more than knocking on the door, despite the disparity in xG. They have the quality off the bench that Palace don’t possess, so they will need to act quickly after the restart, or they risk giving this game away. For Villa, they need to score early as well if they want to get back into this game, and even win it. However, Villa have a record of W1, D2, L4 when conceding the opening goal away from home in the Premier League this season, which isn’t a good omen for the away side.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:27We have had 45 minutes of football so far in London, and it’s the home side that go into the break ahead. The game started slowly, with no shots inside the first 15 minutes, but the game finally came to a boil after several failed attacks, when Ramsey had the ball in the net with a left-footed finish, before the offside flag went up to ruin the celebrations before they had started. Palace then hit back almost instantly, and in the 29th minute, Sarr put the Eagles in front. Richards knocked his header towards goal, for it to only be parried out by Martinez. Unluckily for him, his parry was straight to Sarr who was a mere few yards out, and he made no mistake to put his side ahead. Villa hit back again, and this time they thought their goal would stand from Rogers. His finish was from close range aswell, after a good bit of work by Watkins to set him up inside the box. After a timely VAR check, the goal was disallowed due to a very close offside call. The score remains 1-0 to Palace, who have generated 2.00 xG so far, which greatly eclipses Villa’s 0.05 xG! The Opta live win probability gives Palace a 67.1% chance of winning the game, a 22.1% chance of a draw, and they give Villa a 10.8% chance of winning the game. That seems very harsh for a side that just beat Chelsea!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:20HALF-TIME: CRYSTAL PALACE 1-0 ASTON VILLA
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:18Yellow Card Daniel Muñoz Mejía
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:17There will be four added minutes, due to the two VAR checks in this half.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:16OFFSIDE! Villa’s equaliser has been disallowed due to an offside by Watkins in the buildup! It’s still 1-0 to Palace and we’re only a few minutes away from the break now.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:15GOOOOOAL! It's the commentator’s curse once again as Rogers equalises! It was a wonderful run from Watkins to collect the ball on the left before sliding a ball across the box for the easiest of finishes for Rogers. It’s poor defending from Palace who should’ve tracked his run. 1-1! The VAR is checking for offside!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:13Assist Oliver George Arthur Watkins
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:13We are less than five minutes away from half-time, and apart from their disallowed goal, Villa have made next to no chances in front of goal. Emery will surely call on his cavalry from the bench in the second half, you’d think.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:10A minute of applause is underway to honour Micheal Johnson, who was a Palace fan who passed away recently.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:10HUGE CHANCE AND SAVE! Martinez prevents Sarr from doubling his and Palace’s lead! Eze cut the ball back inside the box, and Sarr’s initial left-footed shot was saved incredibly well before he blazed over on the second attempt. Palace can smell blood all of a sudden!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:07Villa try to respond, but it seems as though Palace have been invigorated by that opening goal. The fans seem a lot more up for this game now, compared to the first 15 minutes.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:05Yellow Card William James Hughes
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:04With that goal, Sarr has now scored 15 goals in the Premier League, netting exactly five goals in each of his three seasons in the competition. He still has a few months left to make it his best tally in one season, aswell!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:02After a short check by VAR for offside, the birthday boy’s goal stands and Palace lead at home!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
20:00Goal Ismaïla Sarr
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:59Sarr breaks through the Villa backline after some good football in midfield from Hughes and Mateta. He has a foot race against Konsa, but the best he can conjure up is a corner.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:57GOOOO-NO! Villa have the ball in the net through Ramsey, but the linesman has the flag up right away to mute the celebrations. It was a good, left-footed finish past Henderson, but it won’t count as he went too early. The score remains 0-0!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:55Neither set of fans is particularly happy with how this referee is calling the game, with fouls and free-kicks being jeered by the recipients' fans.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:52CLOSE! The first chance of the game goes to Aston Villa as Garcia whipped in a nice cross to the six-yard box. Tielemans came steaming in, but he couldn’t get the reach to head it goalwards!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:51The England manager is in attendance here at Selhurst Park, as his first international break draws ever closer. Thomas Tuchel has a lot of talent to choose from, and a couple of those players are on display in this match.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:49Palace had a chance to send the ball into the box, which Eze did from the long free-kick but the player that met it - Guehi, was offside. As you were.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:46If the person who creates highlight packages of games is viewing, you can skip the first 15 minutes as there hasn’t been any action of real note. Both sides have shown shades of danger, but the shot count remains 0-0, aswell as the scoreline.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:45Konsa goes down, claiming an arm in the face by Mateta and the referee blows up to pause the game. The home fans sound their annoyance with a huge collective groan.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:43There was a promising attack from Palace, followed by a great press by Munoz where he won the ball back brilliantly, but after a slip from Hughes, it broke down. That was the first sign of life from the Palace attack.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:41Just under 10 minutes have passed, and we are still awaiting the first shot of the game. For two exciting attacking sides, it has been a very dry opening to this half.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:40Villa have started well, and they have had the bigger share of possession so far, but apart from a corner that was cleared easily, they haven’t done much with the ball.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:38Guehi is down inside the box, without any contact. He was down for a couple of moments before being helped back to his feet by his teammates. He appears to be walking off the injury.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:35Emery and Glasner share some words on the touchline, it appears that Emery is gesturing that Glasner should stay inside his technical area, despite him being three feet away from the line. Let’s see how that one progresses.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:33Martinez takes a leaf out of Eze’s book as he stops the ball inside the box and stares out for a good 10 seconds before finally passing the ball. It’s safe to say that it’s been a slow start.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:31KICK-OFF! Samuel Barrott blows his whistle for the first time here, and the game is underway!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:29The teams are out on the pitch, and we’re nearly ready for kick-off here in London!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:24Palace name a strong starting lineup as they look to go three games without losing against Villa in all competitions this season, with Wharton back into midfield to replace Lerma. The ever-present Mateta starts in attack despite Nketiah being back in the squad after a minor injury. He is still yet to score in the Premier League since his move from Arsenal. For Villa, they have opted to start Rashford and Asensio on the bench here despite them being the sole contributors to both goals in the win over Chelsea. Garcia starts at full-back, replacing Matty Cash and Maatsen is moved to the bench allowing Digne to start. The partnership of Watkins and Rogers in attack will be dangerous from the off, but Emery will have backup to call upon, should he need it. Guehi captains the home team, and McGinn captains the away team.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:18ASTON VILLA SUBS: Robin Olsen, Oliwier Zych, Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, Marcus Rashford, Leon Bailey, Jamaldeen Jimoh, Donyell Malen.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:18ASTON VILLA (4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martinez; Lucas Digne, Axel Disasi, Ezri Konsa, Andres Garcia; Youri Tielemans, Lamare Bogarde; Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers; Ollie Watkins.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:18CRYSTAL PALACE SUBS: Matt Turner, Nathaniel Clyne, Ben Chilwell, Caleb Kporha, Jefferson Lerma, Daichi Kamada, Romain Esse, Justin Devenny, Eddie Nketiah.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:18CRYSTAL PALACE (3-4-2-1): Dean Henderson; Marc Guehi, Maxence Lacroix, Chris Richards; Tyrick Mitchell, Adam Wharton, Will Hughes, Daniel Munoz; Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:13Aston Villa are the visitors in this game, and they are nine points clear of their opponents as they sit in eighth spot. Their most recent game ended in a 2-1 win against Chelsea, which will have given them a lift after a tough run of results, in which they picked up four points out of a possible 15. They’re now eighth in the Premier League table, and considering they remain in the Champions League, it is very impressive. A win here could send them as high as fourth, depending on other results, so Unai Emery will be desperate for another three points.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:13The Premier League season continues to rumble on, and here we have what could be a fiercely competitive game as Crystal Palace welcome Aston Villa to Selhurst Park. The last time these two met here, the scoreline at full-time read 5-0 to the home side as the May sunshine beat down on South London last year. They have met twice this season, and both games were played at Villa Park. Palace won the EFL Cup fixture 2-1, and the first Premier League meeting was a 2-2 draw as Villa came from behind twice to rescue a point. Surprisingly, Crystal Palace has had more head-to-head wins in the last 18 games than Villa, with eight wins compared with Villa’s seven.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:08The Premier League season continues to rumble on, and here we have what could be a fiercely competitive game as Crystal Palace welcome Aston Villa to Selhurst Park. The last time these two met here, the scoreline at full-time read 5-0 to the home side as the May sunshine beat down on South London last year. They have met twice this season, and both games were played at Villa Park. Palace won the EFL Cup fixture 2-1, and the first Premier League meeting was a 2-2 draw as Villa came from behind twice to rescue a point. Surprisingly, Crystal Palace has had more head-to-head wins in the last 18 games than Villa, with eight wins compared with Villa’s seven.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
19:08Hello and welcome to live text commentary on this Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at Selhurst Park!
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
17:30Follow all the goals and latest action from the Premier League here with The Independent. Team news and line-ups coming up shortly…
