November 20 2024

Selhurst Park

It’s no secret that Palace have started the season slowly, writes Marc Frost.

And while it’s much too soon to start panicking, we all know that results must turn around fairly sharpish. There have been some bright points lately, of course, with wins in the league over Tottenham and an even more impressive one for Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup suggesting that the team can get back to where it was towards the end of last season.

The reward for that Carabao Cup win is a trip to the Emirates on 17th December. Not the easiest of ties by any stretch of the imagination, and it should be dismissed out of hand that Mikel Arteta will play a second-string side.

He’ll rotate, yes, but even against Preston North End, the Gunners had a front four of Havertz, Saka, Sterling and Jesus on the pitch at one point. Still, it’s an opportunity as it’s clear Arsenal’s main focus is on other areas.

Stretch of games could allay relegation fears

Yet, it should be interesting to Palace fans to see what comes next. A busy Christmas and New Year period looms, and you might argue it could be pivotal for defining what kind of season this is going to be for the Eagles. Right now, Palace’s Premier League odds say 11/2 for relegation.

You can look at that in two ways: the odds are big enough to consider it a long shot, but the bookies also have only five teams ranked more likely than Palace to go down. Fans are wise enough not to dismiss anything.

Directly after the Carabao Cup tie, Palace have a home tie against – you guessed it – Arsenal on 21st December. We’ll get the full-fat Arsenal on this occasion, although they won’t relish coming to Selhurst Park on a December Saturday evening.

Nonetheless, it’s what comes next that should be interesting. Running across the festive period, Palace will have Bournemouth on Boxing Day, Southampton three days later, Chelsea at home is the Eagles’ first game of 2025, followed by games against Leicester, West Ham and Brentford. Note that there will also be an FA Cup 3rd Round tie sandwiched in between the Chelsea and Leicester games.

Palace might have ten games in 40 days

It's going to be busy. That stretch of games from the Carabao Cup quarter-final to Brentford takes place across 40 days. It will feature nine games in total when you add in the FA Cup, and possibly a 10th if Palace vanquish Arsenal in the cup (the Carabao Cup Semi-Final first legs will be played the first week of January). So, you’re looking at a stretch of fixtures with games coming around once every 4 days or so. Or if you look at it another way: It’s about 20% of the seasons squeezed into 40 days.

Some of those games are obviously going to be tough, but Palace should also be looking at ties against Leicester, Southampton, Brentford, Bournemouth, and West Ham as winnable. Nobody is saying Palace will win them all – and let’s be honest, they won’t – but it’s going to be interesting to see what shape the team is in when it comes out of that run. Comfortable mid-table with some hope in the cups? Or still looking over the shoulder at the relegation zone?

Of course, you can argue that some of this is meaningless. Perhaps Palace are terrible in this period and go on a great run before and after. But you can’t help but think that this run represents the ‘meaty’ part of the season’s sandwich. It could be pivotal for defining what the 2024/25 season means for Palace.