As many as nine players could miss out on the first Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion clash of the season this Saturday.
The Eagles welcome their arch-rivals to Selhurst Park looking to end a run of six games without a win in all competitions. Vieira’s side picked up credible draws against top four sides Manchester United and Newcastle United in that run but face Brighton on the back of a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, the Seagulls continue to go from strength to strength on the back of their most successful season in the top-flight last term. Graham Potter’s departure for Chelsea has not set them back either with Albion developing a reputation as one of the Premier League’s most entertaining teams to watch under Roberto De Zerbi, sitting sixth in the table after 20 games.
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But Palace have somewhat got the better of Brighton recent seasons. The Eagles have won two of the last six meetings between the two sides, with the other four ending in a 1-1 draw. However, both those wins came at the Amex Stadium and the last team to claim a victory at Selhurst Park was Brighton in March 2019.
This weekend, Albion will be boosted by the return of World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister, who served his one match ban for picking up five yellow cards during Brighton’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth last Saturday. But De Zerbi has three key players certainly ruled out for the fixture, with doubts over the availability of rising star Evan Ferguson.
The Irish teenager has enjoyed a successful breakthrough into the Albion first-team recently, contributing three goals and two assists in five Premier League games. But a nasty challenge from Fabinho in an FA Cup fourth round tie with Liverpool resulted in Ferguson leaving on crutches and missing out against Bournemouth at the weekend, despite De Zerbi confirming that the injury was not as serious as first feared.
Chelsea loanee Levi Colwill has missed Albion’s last three games due to a quad injury and the defender is not expected to return until later this month. Adam Lallana has been absent for the same number of games with a muscular problem, with De Zerbi expected to give an update on the midfielder ahead of the Palace fixture. Jakub Moder has been out all season with an ACL injury.
As for Palace, they will be without talismanic winger Wilfried Zaha . Patrick Vieira has not put an exact timeframe on the 30-year-old’s return but expects Zaha to be out of action for at least a few weeks after picking up a hamstring injury in the goalless draw against Newcastle.
Joachim Andersen should be coming towards tail end of his recovery from a calf problem. The Danish centre-back was expected to be out for around three weeks after sustaining the injury in the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on January 15. Vieira will surely give an update on whether Andersen is ready to return against Albion later this week.
Joel Ward missed the trip to Old Trafford due to a muscular injury. James McArthur , who has been absent all season with a groin injury, is progressing well in his rehabilitation but is not expected to return for some time yet, whereas Nathan Ferguson is yet to return from an Achilles tendon injury.
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