Aston Villa will be looking to make it back-to-back Premier League wins under new head coach Steven Gerrard when they travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
Gerrard led his side to a 2-0 home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, while Palace will enter the contest off the back of a pulsating 3-3 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor.
Match preview
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Only Chelsea (one) and Liverpool (one) have lost fewer Premier League matches than Palace this season, with the Eagles suffering just two defeats in their opening 12 matches, but they have been the draw specialists, sharing the points on seven occasions, winning only three times.
A total of 16 points from 12 games represents a solid start to the campaign, with the capital outfit currently sitting 10th in the table, just four points behind fifth-placed Arsenal heading into the next set of fixtures.
Patrick Vieira's side recorded back-to-back 2-0 wins over Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead of their trip to Burnley last weekend, and they would have fancied their chances of collecting another three points against Sean Dyche's team.
Palace twice led at Turf Moor, with Christian Benteke (two) and Marc Guehi on the scoresheet, but Burnley scored three goals of their own, as the points were shared in a 3-3 draw.
The Eagles will welcome Villa on Saturday before back-to-back away matches against Leeds United and Manchester United, and it will be fascinating to see what the club can achieve this season under Vieira.
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A run of five straight Premier League defeats between October 3 and November 5 saw Dean Smith lose his position as Villa boss, and the club moved quickly to appoint Gerrard as his replacement.
The former Liverpool captain would have been desperate to get off to the perfect start against Brighton last weekend and that proved to be the case, as late goals from Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings secured a 2-0 victory over the Seagulls at Villa Park.
The result moved Villa into 15th position in the table, with the team winning four, drawing one and losing seven of their 12 Premier League matches this term to collect 13 points.
Saturday's clash is even more vital for Gerrard's team considering that two of their next three in the league are against title challengers Man City and Liverpool.
Villa recorded a 3-0 win over Palace when the two teams locked horns at Villa Park last term, but they suffered a 3-2 defeat in the clash at Selhurst Park on May 16.
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Team News
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Palace will again be without the services of James McArthur due to a hamstring problem, while Nathan Ferguson is also unlikely to be involved as he recovers from a calf injury.
Vieira otherwise has a fully-fit squad, and it would not be a surprise to see largely the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Burnley last weekend.
Benteke's brace will see him feature at centre-forward once again, but there could be a change in attack, with Odsonne Edouard potentially replacing Jordan Ayew.
As for Villa, Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet remain out with thigh and knee injuries respectively, but Douglas Luiz will be back in the squad, having recovered from a hamstring strain.
Gerrard will be tempted to introduce Leon Bailey into the starting XI, but the 24-year-old could ultimately be named on the bench once again, with Danny Ings and Watkins featuring in the final third.
Ashley Young and Anwar El Ghazi are also pushing for spots in the attacking areas, but Jacob Ramsey is expected to retain his position in the middle of the park.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Gallagher, Milivojevic, Kouyate; Zaha, Benteke, Edouard
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Nakamba, Ramsey; Buendia, Ings, Watkins
We say: Crystal Palace 2-2 Aston Villa
This fixture produced goals last season - eight in two matches - and we are predicting another open match on Saturday afternoon. Both teams have a lot of talent in the forward areas, and we can see the points being shared in an entertaining 2-2 draw here.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Aston Villa win with a probability of 36.34%. A win for Crystal Palace had a probability of 36.12% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aston Villa win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.89%) and 0-2 (6.54%). The likeliest Crystal Palace win was 1-0 (10.75%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.02%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Aston Villa would win this match.
