Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Crystal Palace strikers Dwight Gayle and Connor Wickham are both available after injury and suspension respectively.
However, James McArthur misses out with an ankle problem and Jason Puncheon has a hamstring injury.
Watford captain Troy Deeney is likely to start, having only been used as a substitute last weekend because of fitness concerns.
Defender Miguel Britos is a doubt after sustaining an injury against Spurs.
Editor’s Note: Although Crystal Palace have managed to find the net again as of late they still haven’t managed to win a game. They are now 8 games without a win, a run that takes them back to December 19th when they won away at Stoke. They will look to finally end this barren run with a local derby against Watford this Afternoon.
Although the results have got slightly better for Palace over the last few weeks that much desired win still proves elusive for Alan Pardew’s side as their season is fizzling out to a mid table finish. The Eagles currently find themselves 12th in the Premier League and could do with at least a couple more wins just to make sure they are safe but for all the promise pre Christmas, it’s been quite a fall from grace in 2016.
Emmanuel Adebayor was bought in to try and rectify Palace’s lack of Goals. He is yet to find the net but will be looking to open his account against a Watford side that he could have linked up with in January but Manager Quique Sanchez Flores decided against signing the Togo International. Watford’s choice not to was to Palace’s benefit and Adebayor will no doubt love to prove he is worth the risk with a goal against Watford.
Last time out Watford were beaten 1-0 at Tottenham, the scoreline may have suggested it was a tight encounter but the stats suggest a much different story. Tottenham ran Watford ragged and although The Hornets kept them at bay for at least an hour it was just a matter of time before Huerelho Gomes’s net was finally breached.
That’s not to do Watford a disservice, it’s just more a measure of how Tottenham played last Saturday, Watford just couldn’t get a foot in the game as Spurs dominated with Quique Sanchez Flores going as far in his post match comments as tipping the North London side for League glory come the end of the season.
Watford have had an impressive season in the Premier League since promotion and find themselves currently 10th in the table. They seem to be a relatively solid, although Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo have had good seasons the only criticism could be that they areto be very dependent on those two to get on the scoresheet, but when they are that a good partnership then why not.
With it being 12th playing 10th at Selhurst Park this Afternoon, this tie is about as mid-table as you can get. Therefore don’t be surprised if these two sides cancel each other out and it ends up in a draw. Palace to still be searching for that win by 5pm. Honours even for me.
