Southampton v Palace

St Mary's Stadium, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Prior to the start of the season, this clash may have been considered a relegation ‘6 pointer’, but on the basis of performances so far this season it should be considered anything but that. Southampton have started the season well, and completed a stunning win at Anfield last week, whereas Palace suffered a disappointing loss at home to Swansea.

The Eagles result could have been even worse were it not for Danny Gabbidon. The Welshman made 12 defensive contributions (clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles) against Swansea, more than any of his teammates.

Overall this season, however, Gabbidon’s performances have been overshadowed by his Australian teammate Mile Jedinak. The Australian has made more defensive contributions than any other player in the league.

Crystal Palace might have conceded twice at the weekend, but the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that the strikers need to up their game too. Between them, the Eagles strikers failed to register a single shot against Swansea. 888sport.com are backing Marouane Chamakh to change Palace’s fortunes, and are offering 5/1 for him score at any time.

Strikers may point to a lack of service as a reason behind their lack of chances, but midfielder Jason Puncheon would refute this claim. He completed 37 passes in Swansea’s half on Saturday, which was more than anyone else on the pitch.

Dejan Lovren’s header was enough to give the Saints all three points in their match against Liverpool on Saturday.

He may have been active up the pitch, but Lovren also showcased his defensive ability on Saturday, clearing the ball 8 times – more than any other Saints player.

The performance of another Saints defender, Nathaniel Clyne, was one that really caught the eye. He comes into the match against his former club in fine form according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, as he won 13 tackles against Liverpool, more than anyone else in that round of fixtures.

Clyne was far more successful than his teammate on the other flank. Left back Luke Shaw attempted 9 tackles at the weekend, but lost 6 of them. No other player in the league lost more.

Southampton have earned plaudits for their tendency to develop young English talent, and so far this season, James Ward-Prowse has repaid the faith put in him. In addition to completing 10 crosses this season, the saints academy graduate has completed a pass in the opposition half once every 2.8 minutes. He’s 13/1 with 888sport.com to score the first goal of the match against Arsenal.

Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars at fantasy.premierleague.com or with FIFA Ultimate Team for FIFA 14.

Team news

Damien Delaney is out for Crystal Palace after sustaining an ankle injury in last weekend's home defeat with Swansea.

Jason Puncheon cannot play under the terms of his loan agreement from Southampton. Jerome Thomas or Jimmy Kebe could come in to replace the winger.

Midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi returns after serving a one-match ban for his red card at Manchester United.

Yannick Bolasie (hamstring) is still out, along with Paddy McCarthy (groin) plus medium term absentees Glenn Murray (knee), Jonny Williams and Jack Hunt (both ankle).

Southampton duo Rickie Lambert and Dani Osvaldo are set to line up in attack. Nathaniel Clyne is up against Palace for the first time since joining Saints last year.

Southampton (from): Boruc, K Davis, Gazzaniga, Clyne, Chambers, Shaw, Fox, Lovren, Hooiveld, Yoshida, Fonte, Schneiderlin, Cork, S Davis, Ward-Prowse, Wanyama, Lallana, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Do Prado, Osvaldo, Lambert, Lee.

Palace (from): Speroni, Gabbidon, Moxey, Mariappa, Campana, Guedioura, Bannan, Thomas, Jedinak, Chamakh, Jerome, Gayle, Puncheon, Alexander, O'Keefe, Phillips, Kebe, Dikgacoi.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"We will have to be slightly different away from home, but part of our game is drawing teams onto us and then knocking them out with a (sucker) punch.

"I don't think we are going to be a Sugar Ray Leonard, I think we are going to be more of a Muhammad Ali against Joe Frasier (rope-a-dope in the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle).

"I just want our lads to grow, and if we can give ourselves half a chance, then that will do.

"We are going to have to set our stall out and then look to counter-attack, maybe get a set-piece and hurt them, if we can get a goal, then away we go.

"It is more about staying in the games long enough when I can make those changes to try to go get the points - we have not had a draw yet, which is unbelievable if you think about the way we have played.

"We will have massive respect from Southampton, where they have come from and where they are going, with their new ground now, and with what they have spent this summer, they are really going to have a go.

"They have some fantastic players, with great deliveries from dead balls and have Rickie Lambert who is the England striker at the moment, yes we have got to be aware of that, but we can also hurt them at the other end.

"Southampton will be a fantastic opportunity to go and play on a wonderful surface to see if we can learn from the last game.

"I am totally convinced our attitude and the way we are going to work hard for each other and what we have learned from last week, that we can take all of that into this next game.

"We have got to be right at it and on our game, but we are trying to gel this lot together and learn from our mistakes.

"As long as you improve and move forwards and don't go backwards on your belief, that is all you can ask from the players."

Nathaniel Clyne

"I’m excited. It’s the first time that I’m going to have played against my old club, Crystal Palace. I get to see a few of my old team-mates, and hopefully it will be a good game where we’ll get the three points.

"If we win then I’ll get a chance to have a little laugh with the lads that are still there and that I used to play with, and it should be a good game.

"I’ve been following their progress into the Premier League from last season and they did really well. I haven’t had time to go and see them play but I’ve followed their games and talked to a few of their players about how it’s going and obviously they are doing well.

"They deserve to be here in the Premier League. Coming from the Championship into the Premier League, going through the play-offs, winning at Wembley is a big achievement for the club.

"They’ve added to their squad as well to make it stronger but, yes, we’ll have a good go and hopefully we’ll continue our winning form.

"It’ll be tough again. Most teams that come here sit back and defend, but hopefully we can get an early goal which will bring them out a bit and we can then score a few more goals to get the win.

"Teams that come here tend to sit and make it hard for us so it’s difficult to play out and attack to catch us on the counter. We’ve got the quality to break down opposition so hopefully we can show it again on Saturday."

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Southampton - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
7th	5	2	2	1	8

Full league table

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Southampton - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
5	2	2	1	3	2

Full form table

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
09/04/2012	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Southampton
26/12/2011	League	Southampton	2 - 0	Crystal Palace
25/10/2011	League Cup	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Southampton
13/04/2009	League	Southampton	1 - 0	Crystal Palace
08/12/2008	League	Crystal Palace	3 - 0	Southampton

All time results

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Last meeting

Palace 0-2 Southampton

Monday April 09 2012

Palace: Speroni, McCarthy, Moxey, Clyne, Parsons, De Silva (Garvan, 61), Martin, Dikgacoi, O'Keefe, Zaha, Scannell (Ambrose, 83)

Subs not used: Inniss, Price, Murray

Bookings: Zaha

Southampton: Davis, Butterfield, Hooiveld, Fox (Harding, 73), Fonte, Hammond, Chaplow (De Ridder, 89), Lallana, Cork, Lambert (Do Prado, 77), Sharp

Subs not used: Barnard, Martin

Goals: Lambert (39, 56)

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