Now...
Saturday's Action:
Crystal Palace's trip to the Keepmoat Stadium proved to be a shocker from all sides. Rock bottom Doncaster, who were without a win in the league this season home or away, had their new manager Dean Saunders making his debut on Saturday and he made a few changes to the side that lost to Reading last week. One of which was loan signing John Parkin who provided an early shot which was blocked. Not long after Glenn Murray was through on goal but seemed off balance and couldn't convert a golden opportunity. Glenn was denied a penalty shout from what my sources have told me and he wasn't the only one either as Jermaine Easter, was pushed in the box. Mile Jedinak fired just over the bar on 50 minutes and Glenn Murray continued his pressure in the second half but Neil Sullivan kept out a strong header from the Palace front man.
Just as it had been against Wigan a few weeks ago, an ex-Palace player scored for the opposition in the form of Jon Oster this time, taking an extremely big deflection to beat Julian Speroni. Both sides kept up some good pressure, Doncaster just missing a long range curling shot, but the match finished a disappointing 1-0 to Doncaster, granting them their first league win of the season. Crystal Palace still sit 12th, while Doncaster are still at the bottom despite the win.
Dougie's Comments:
"We done more than enough to get something out of the game, a bit of bad fortune, a deflected goal....We tried, in the first half we looked decent, in the second half we didn't quite have enough to win the game"
"Defensively, we looked solid, just didn't have that cutting edge up top in the first half. Second half, it got a bit difficult, Billy Sharp come on and changed the momentum"
"We didn't deserve to win at all, but didn't deserve to get beat either"
"The lads are devastated because they knew it was a game we should've won"
"I can't criticize the lads, I felt they played well."
On Glenn Murray:
"A very good player, when he gets going he's excellent, he'll be very good for us."
On the referee:
"We had numerous chances in the first half and I can't control the referee's decision, he gets assessed on his performance."
Team News:
Crystal Palace: Hills (knee) and KG (hamstring) will miss the highly anticipated fixture on Tuesday night. Also, Owen Garvan is still unavailable to play against the team that offered him a contract just a few months ago due to his knee injury. Steffen Iversen still isn't match fit judging by his performance in the Middlesbrough fixture but may see a bench spot. Antonio Pedroza, we can only assume, is not match fit yet or else we may have seen him perform against Doncaster or Middlesbrough. However, Eagles fans will be excited to know that long term absentee Nathaniel Clyne has been hinted to return to the squad tomorrow after breaking his foot in the pre-season clash with Bournemouth.
Brighton: The Seagulls will be without Will Buckley (hamstring) while Dicker returned from injury against Leeds. Other than Buckley, Gus Poyet will have a full squad to choose from.
Preview:
After an unpredicatable 1-0 defeat to Doncaster on Saturday, Crystal Palace will hope to rectify their away result against rivals, and Championship new boys, Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday. Many Eagles fans will be forced to follow the game online or by radio due to the ticket sales structure for this game but Selhurst Park will show the game in the Red and Blue bar and on the big screen in the ground for fans who wish to pay an entry fee of ten pounds.
Although I'm sure many fans will be apprehensive of this game due to the not so fantastic away form displayed by Palace as of late, but many will also be very hopeful and positive when the game kicks off on Tuesday night. Nothing would make fans more comfortable in the reign of Dougie Freedman, than a victory over rivals Brighton at their own ground, the American "AmEx" Express Community Stadium. Which so many Eagles fans have referred to as the Tampax, much to my amusement.
Brighton's last home game saw them face off against Leeds United, who edged out Palace at Elland Road a few weeks ago, in which the Seagulls came back to earn a point after going 2-0 down in the first half. Brighton went ahead in the 84th minute thanks to star striker Mackail-Smith, who also scored Brighton's first, followed by a Barnes penalty. If not for a McCormack strike in the second minute of added time, Brighton would have walked away with all three points.
Most famous clashes between the sides include a 5-0 thrashing by Palace, 3 of which were Andy Johnson's and a 3-2 victory for Palace, manager Dougie Freedman getting a brace in this game.
With goals to be expected and hopefully a Glenn Murray hat-trick to show Gus Poyet why he shouldn't have let Murray go, this is going to be Palace fans most important game of the season from a supporters aspect. Coming close second, Millwall.
My CPFC line-up:
Speroni
Ramage McCarthy Gardner Moxey
Marrow
Zaha Jedinak Parr
Scannell
Murray
Subs: Price, Clyne, Williams, Ambrose, Easter
Brighton's last 6:
D-L-L-W-W-W
Last time out:
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-3 Crystal Palace
Knight (22') Freedman (28')
Knight (pen) (53') Freedman (60')
McAnuff (90+4')
Match Facts:
- Brighton score an average of 2.25 goals at home
- Brighton concede an average of 1.5 goals at home
- Brighton have not failed to score at home all season, and are also unbeaten at home.
- Crystal Palace have scored 8 goals against the Seagulls in the last 3 meetings, Brighton scoring just 3
- The Eagles' v Seagulls rivalry dates back to their first clash in November 1976 in the FA Cup, this game finished 2-2 and the replay also a draw, 1-1, the second replay at Stamford Bridge ended 1-0 to Palace after a controversial penalty re-take that Brighton had scored first but missed on the second spot kick.
- Alan Mullery managed Brighton in the first game between the sides, he went on to manage Crystal Palace a few years later
- There were no league meetings between the sides from 1988 to 2002, the comeback game saw Andy Johnson claim 3 of 5 goals scored against Brighton that day. Palace conceding none.
My Prediction(s):
Crystal Palace 2-3 Brighton (realistically)
Murray Mackail-Smith (2)
Zaha Barnes
Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton (optimistic)
Murray (2) Barnes
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