Sunday, 1 September 2013

What To Expect From Crystal Palace This Season


Having been promoted through the play-off system rather than achieving automatic promotion, Crystal Palace are a team that will - despite their winning mentality and fresh enthusiasm - have a hard time in the Premier League this season. The Eagles finished 5th in the Championship last season, four points in front of 6th placed Leicester. They then went on to beat Brighton 2-0 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final and they managed to sneak a 1-0 win over Watford at Wembley to send them into one of the biggest and most watched leagues in the world. Crystal Palace's strong point last season was their goalscoring - as they scored 73 goals, the most of any team except Watford. However, their weak point also concerns goals, namely the amount of goals they let in. They conceded 62 goals last season, the most of any team to reach the play-off places or above. If Ian Holloway's men let in so many goals in England's second tier of football, who knows how many they will concede in the top division?  

Palace have done a LOT of business this summer, with many players coming in and out of the club. Their three biggest signings - judging by the fame of the players - are arguably Jimmy Kebe, Marouane Chamakh and Jason Puncheon (who has come in on a season-long loan deal). However, the player who has had the largest effect on the London club following his departure after a loan spell at Palace from his current club, is Wilfried Zaha. The Englishman - born in the Ivory Coast - was signed by Manchester United in January and was sent immediately on loan back to his long-time club. He was a pivotal player for Palace during their promotion charge, and will leave a gaping hole in the squad this season. 

Crystal Palace's start to the season is an average one, but not unexpected. Two losses - Tottenham at home (0-1) and Stoke away (2-1) - and one win - Sunderland at home (3-1) - puts them in 14th place at the time of writing. Their next six games - Manchester United (A), Swansea (H), Southampton (A), Liverpool (A), Fulham (H) and Arsenal (H) - will prove to be an enormous challenge for Holloway's side. Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal will be games that the fans will probably expect to lose, but games like Southampton and Swansea may prove to be entertaining games in which Palace could produce a shock win - providing their underdog mentality drives them.

However, though they may be able to claim the odd Premier League scalp between now and the end of the season, I can't see Crystal Palace achieving anything more than one season at the highest level. Realistically, they are not well rounded enough to beat enough of the best teams in the country to stay in this league. And with the loss of their talisman, Zaha, Palace don't even have a household name to turn to when the going gets tough. That is why, regretfully, I have to predict that they will be relegated at the end of this season, either an 18th or 19th place finish. 





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