Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has received a frustrating injury blow ahead of Saturday's visit of Liverpool to Selhurst Park in the Premier League.
The Eagles - who are still searching for their first top-flight win of the season - remain without Chadi Riad (knee), Cheick Doucoure (toe) and Christopher Richards (thigh), as well as the ostracised Rob Holding.
Twenty-year-old Brazilian talent Matheus Franca is on the verge of making a full recovery from a fractured rib, but Glasner revealed on Friday that he had suffered a new groin injury, one which may sideline him for the remainder of 2024.
Franca would have been unlikely to start this one, though, and Ismaila Sarr is also ahead of him in the attacking pecking order, but Glasner may stick rather than twist for the time being.
As a result, Eddie Nketiah and Eberechi Eze should act as the supporting cast for Jean-Philippe Mateta, who boasts a sensational 15 goals in his last 11 home matches for Crystal Palace.
Adam Wharton - believed to be on the radar of Liverpool and others - should man the engine room alongside Daichi Kamada, as Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz bomb down the flanks.
Summer signing Trevoh Chalobah made a Palace matchday squad for the first time last weekend, but the ex-Chelsea man should be kept waiting for his full debut as Jefferson Lerma, Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix shield Dean Henderson.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Lerma, Guehi, Lacroix; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Nketiah, Mateta, Eze
> Click here to see how Liverpool could line up for this encounter
Ben Knapton
