Roy Hodgson Takes Charge of Palace for First Time as Crystal Palace host Southampton

Crystal Palace have endured a poor start to the 2017/18 Premier League season and Frank de Boer became the first managerial casualty because of their disappointing results.

The Dutchman was given very little time and despite failing to pick up a point in his time in charge at Selhurst Park, should surely have been given a little longer to turn things around. However, it wasn’t to be and Crystal Palace have a new man in the dugout this weekend and his name is Roy Hodgson.

The former England manager will start life in the Crystal Palace hot seat by taking on Southampton in the early kick-off in the Premier League on Saturday.

Hodgson will have his work cut out as trends show Crystal Palace have lost all four of their Premier League matches this season.

The Eagles started the campaign with what looked like a good fixture at home to Huddersfield but lost the match 3-0, a result which came as a big shock.  Having lost this match, it was little surprise to see them go down 1-0 at Anfield, all be it with a slightly better performance.

The next match at home to Swansea City was the one to kick-start their campaign but Crystal Palace lost the match 2-0 and remained at the foot of the Premier League table.  The 1-0 defeat at Burnley last weekend was the last straw and the board decided a change was required, even though we are still early in the season.

One look at Crystal Palace’s Premier League results this season highlights one glaring fact and trends show they are yet to score a single goal. Crystal Palace have also failed to keep a clean sheet and Hodgson has problems to solve at both ends of the pitch.

Life has not been without problems for Crystal Palace’s opponents this weekend, Southampton.

The Saints have won only one of their four Premier League games this season and that came in their second match at home to West Ham United.  It was not a convincing performance however and Southampton needed a late goal to see off ten men.

The one bright spot for Southampton is the fact they have lost just one of their four games, which is a much superior record to their opponents.  However, the defeat came at home to Watford last week and was a match to forget for Southampton.

Trends show the Saints have failed to score in the three of their four Premier League games and will need to up their game in-front of goal if they are to move into the top half of the table.  In fact, they have failed to score in six of their last seven competitive games.

Looking at the team news and Crystal Palace are still without the injured trio of Connor Wickham, Wilfried Zaha and Bakary Sako for this game.  Mamadou Sakho, James Tompkins and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are rated as doubtful.

Southampton are close to full strength but it remains to be seen if Virgil van Dijk will play any part in the match.

Both teams are struggling in attacking areas and this could make for a low scoring match.  Furthermore, neither team are in good form or look capable of picking up maximum points.  Crystal Palace may be buoyed with the arrival of a new manager but this alone will not be enough for them to win this match.

Under 2.5 goals and a draw looks a real possibility in this game.