Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace admission ahead of…

Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace admission ahead of Leeds United, Leicester and Wolves fixtures

Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira believes his side are performing better than the Premier League table suggests, but that it also doesn’t lie.

The Eagles have had a disappointing start to the 2022/23 campaign with just one win in seven games. Three draws has kept Vieira’s side out of the relegation zone, but only goal difference separates them from 18^th-placed Wolves and a two-point cushion over Leicester City and Nottingham Forest ahead of this weekend’s round of fixtures.

Although results have been disappointing, performances certainly have not. The Eagles matched Arsenal and Liverpool in their first two games, losing 0-2 and drawing 1-1 respectively, before a 3-1 win against Aston Villa.

Palace also went two goals ahead against Manchester City at the Etihad, but Erling Haaland would score his first of three consecutive hat-tricks at home to spur a 4-2 victory for the Premier League champions.

Back-to-back draws against Brentford and Newcastle followed and the Eagles would return from the September international break to go ahead against Chelsea, only for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to equalise ahead of Conor Gallagher’s stoppage-time winner.

In an interview with Tubes for Sky Sports, Vieira admitted that occupying 17^th was not a true reflection on Palace’s season so far. He said: “This is the frustration about it is because where we are in the table does not reflect the way we have been playing so far.

“That’s gave us some hope for the rest of the season and at the same time the table doesn’t lie. So we have to understand that playing well is good because that allowed us to create chances. But we don’t win games and to win games we need to do a little bit more individually, collectively, to turn those performances into a win.”

After just seven games, Palace have already come up against three of last season’s top four in Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea, as well as Arsenal who finished fifth last term but currently sit atop the Premier League table.

Vieira added: “This is the Premier League. You play the big four. Every game has its own challenges. We performed and competed well against those teams we’ve played so far. How can we improve those performances, how can we be more consistent?”

Palace will be looking to build a gap from the bottom three on Sunday when they take on Leeds United at Selhurst Park. Six more Premier League games against sides who are currently in the bottom half of the table, including Leicester (A), Wolves (H), Everton (A), Southampton (H), West Ham (A) and Nottingham Forest (A).

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