Norwich City v Palace

Carrow Road, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Tony Pulis will take charge of a Crystal Palace side with renewed momentum this Saturday after a late Barry Bannan strike saw Palace to a 0-1 victory away to Hull last time out.

Palace captain Mile Jedinak’s reading of the game continues to be superb this season, complementing a physical style of play in the Eagles’ engine room. Jedinak currently leads the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for interceptions with 50.

No player contributed more to their team’s defensive efforts in the last round than Palace’s Danny Gabbidon. He recorded a superb total of 22 defensive contributions (blocks, interceptions, clearances, tackles won) against Hull.

Dwight Gayle has been one of Palace’s most effective attackers this season, racking up a squad-high 13 attempts on goal. Unfortunately only 30.7% of these have been on-target, he will no doubt be hoping to make more of his opportunities moving forward for the rest of campaign. Gayle is 11/4 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.

A spirited second half display from Norwich was not enough to prevent them from falling to 2-1 defeat away to Newcastle last weekend, with a solitary Leroy Fer goal late in the second half providing scant consolation for the Canaries’ travelling fans.

Nathan Redmond continues to turn in a series of incredibly impressive performances this season, a run of form that will no doubt bring him to the attention of a host of clubs in the summer. The young forward leads the Canaries squad for attacking contributions (crosses, assists, dribbles, shots on goal) with 47 according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

Midfielder Leroy Fer will have no doubt been pleased to get on the scoresheet last weekend, even if it proved only to be a consolation header for his side. However, it has been in winning the ball back for his team that Fer has shone the most this season, attempting more tackles than any other Norwich player with 54, and winning 72.2% of them.

Jonny Howson remains the conduit for much of Norwich’s work in the middle of the park this season. He currently has a squad-leading 283 successfully completed passes in the opponent’s half to his name. Howson is an industry best 11/2 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.

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

Yannick Bolasie begins his three-game suspension after his straight red at Hull City last weekend. Jerome Thomas could step in his place on the wing, while Marouane Chamakh's head will be checked on after his collision with Hull's Paul McShane. Cameron Jerome is on stand by.

Jonny Williams should make the squad, but Adlene Guedioura (lung, ribs) is still out.

Norwich midfielders Anthony Pilkington (hamstring), Robert Snodgrass (knee) and record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel (toe) won't play.

They join midfielder Alexander Tettey (ankle), goalkeeper Mark Bunn (ankle) and winger Elliott Bennett (knee) on the treatment table.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"The reason I've joined the football club is to stay in the Premier League. If I thought it was a case of going down to come back up I wouldn't have joined.

"What we've done on the pitch this week has been difficult for them, but they have all responded brilliantly. If there's a criticism I've probably tried to get too much into them too quickly. But their attitude has been first class.

"I'd like to bring a few people in, but where and when, that will depend on chats with the board of directors. It's only right to have those discussions there first of all."

Stuart O'Keefe

"The boys have taken to him really well. He is very well respected in the game and if anyone is going to keep us up, then he is the right man. He thinks we can stay up otherwise he would not have taken the job.

"He has told us he expects nothing less than 100 per cent effort. It is going to be hard [to stay up] but he can get the best out of us and will not take any rubbish from anyone. With him at the helm, we have the best chance because he has been there and done it.

"We might need a few tweaks if he wants to play a certain way but the boys will be able to play the way he wants to. Ian Holloway had his own way on things but if Tony Pulis were to go more direct, we would adapt to it. We have got a squad here that are just starting to gel and we saw the rewards of that against Hull last weekend."

Chris Hughton

"How quickly Tony wants to change things we just don't know, but it is normal when a new manager comes in there is a bit fiercer competition for places.

"First and foremost Tony's teams have always played with a lot of character and organisation. Has he played a fairly direct game at times? Yes he has, but he has been able to adapt over the seasons and you saw that at Stoke where he brought in a lot of very good footballers.

"Tony will play the game he feels will get him results and he has been very successful at that."

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Norwich City - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
16th	12	3	2	7	11

Full league table

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Norwich City - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
8	2	1	5	7	18

Full form table

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
29/01/2011	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 0	Norwich City
19/10/2010	League	Norwich City	1 - 2	Crystal Palace
26/12/2008	League	Crystal Palace	3 - 1	Norwich City
25/11/2008	League	Norwich City	1 - 2	Crystal Palace
01/01/2008	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	Norwich City

All time results

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Last meeting

Palace 0-0 Norwich City

Saturday January 29 2011

Palace: Speroni, Gardner, Wright, McCarthy, Clyne, Parsons, Ambrose, Danns, Marrow, Vaughan, Scannell (Zaha, 67)

Subs not used: Easter, Price, Iversen, Garvan, Barrett, Counago

Bookings: Marrow, Vaughan

Norwich City: Ruddy, Barnett, Whitbread, Martin, Drury (Tierney, 61), Crofts, Fox (Jackson, 61), Hoolahan, Lansbury, Martin (Wilbraham, 75), Holt

Subs not used: Ward, Lappin, Smith, Steer

Bookings: Crofts

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