Live match preview – C Palace vs So’ton 15.12.2021

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Crystal Palace vs Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday (kick-off 7.30pm).

Team news

Crystal Palace will be boosted by the return of Joachim Andersen after a hamstring injury.

Captain Luka Milivojevic has also recovered from the knock which sidelined him for the win against Everton on Sunday.

But the Eagles remain without vice-captain James McArthur (hamstring), while full-back Nathan Ferguson is building up his fitness after close to two years since his last competitive appearance.

Southampton are assessing Adam Armstrong and Armando Broja after each came off in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Arsenal because of injury, while fellow forward Che Adams, who missed the game due to a knock, has been ruled out of the trip to Selhurst Park.

With Alex McCarthy also still sidelined and Fraser Forster looking likely to be, Willy Caballero is set to play in goal again.

Boss Ralph Hasenhuttl is hopeful Tino Livramento (muscle issue) will be fit to feature, and has Oriel Romeu and Mohammed Salisu available again after one-game suspensions.

Last time out…

How to follow

Follow Crystal Palace vs Southampton in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after full-time.

Jones Knows prediction…

Southampton remain a very positive, attack-minded team whose style allows them to progress into dangerous areas of the pitch. Once there, a lack of quality is to blame for their poor conversion rate. That makes them hard to fancy in any traditional match outcome or goals markets, hence why I’d slightly favour Palace in this match-up. However, one area where they are very reliable is their ability to win corners due to that positive style of football under Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The adventurous nature of both their full-backs is helping to keep those numbers high to the extent that only Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea have won more corners than Saints this season (98).

Sky Bet have dangled the carrot of odds of 6/4 for Southampton to win six or more corners in this one – a price that is drenched in value. It’s a bet that would have copped in nine of the last 10 Southampton fixtures and one that is given further confidence by Palace’s average of 5.5 corners conceded per 90 minutes this season. In what should be an exciting game, full of tempo, I’m all over the Saints corner line.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1

BETTING ANGLE: Southampton to win six or more corners (6/4 with Sky Bet)

Opta stats

• Crystal Palace have lost five of their last eight Premier League home games against Southampton (W3), though they did win this exact fixture 1-0 last season.
• Of teams they’ve faced at least 10 times in the Premier League, against no side have Southampton won a higher share of their games in the competition than they have against Crystal Palace (58% – 14/24).
• Palace have won just one of their last 16 Premier League games on a Wednesday (D7 L8), while at home they’re winless in 11 top-flight Wednesday games since beating Aston Villa 1-0 in February 1993.
• Southampton haven’t won any of their last 24 Premier League away games played on Wednesdays (D8 L16), with their last such victory coming at Chelsea in April 1995 (2-0).
• Crystal Palace have only lost one of their eight home Premier League games this season (W3 D4); only Liverpool (none) have lost fewer matches on home soil in the competition this term. The Eagles are looking to win back-to-back league matches at Selhurst Park for the first time since March 2020.
• Southampton have conceded a league-high 73 Premier League goals in 2021 – only four sides have ever conceded more in a single calendar year in the competition: Ipswich Town in 1994 (79), Bradford City in 2000 (76), Watford in 2017 (75) and Oldham Athletic in 1993 (74).
• Conor Gallagher has been directly involved in 41% of Crystal Palace’s 22 goals in the Premier League this season (six goals, three assists), the highest proportion for any team by an English player in the competition this term heading into MD17. In fact, Gallagher has either scored (four) or assisted (two) six of the Eagles’ last 11 league goals (55%).
• Southampton have scored 14 Premier League goals this season, but have an xG tally of 20.6. Only Norwich have a higher negative difference between expected goals (15.0) and actual goals (8) in the competition so far this term.
• Southampton have lost 15 of their last 19 Premier League away games (W2 D2), with Saints conceding 50 goals and scoring just 13 in these matches.
• Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has scored six goals in his last nine Premier League games against Southampton – only against Chelsea and Sunderland (seven each) has he scored more in the competition.