12 Crystal Palace Pl 25 Pts 27 GD -11
With only six points separating the bottom nine, Palace are closer to 20th-placed Bournemouth than 11th-placed Aston Villa. Ominously, Patrick Vieira’s young side have developed downward momentum and have gone nine league games without victory. They are seeking their first win of 2023 and continue to miss last season’s Chelsea loanee midfielder Conor Gallagher. Vieira, ever sensible and intelligent, reacted to the concession of seven goals in two games against Tottenham and Chelsea at the turn of the year by swapping a high press for cagey, deep-sitting counterattacking tactics and the defence has tightened accordingly. Yet too many potentially key individuals, the inconsistent forward Eberechi Eze among them, are struggling for form and the goals have dried up for the top tier’s lowest transfer market spenders.
