Crystal Palace will be without long term absentees Nathaniel Clyne (foot), Lee Hills (knee) & Kagisho "KG" Dikgacoi (hamstring). Palace will also be without Owen Garvan who twisted his knee in training a couple of weeks ago and will be out of action for at least another 2-3 weeks.
Middlesbrough will be without first choice goalkeeper Jason Steele (wrist), Jonathan Franks (shoulder) and will also have to choose either Danny Coyne or Connor Ripley to serve between the posts as on-loan keeper Carl Ikeme's contract prevents him from playing in the Cup. Joe Bennett will also be unavailable for Tuesday's game as he serves a suspension for being sent off at Selhurst just three days ago.
Saturday's Action:
Revenge will be in the heart of most Crystal Palace fans' ahead of Tuesday's Carling Cup clash with Middlesbrough as the Teesiders puttered to a 1-0 victory over the Eagles at Selhurst Park on Saturday. Top scorer for Boro, Marvin Emnes, scored the only goal of the game to put Middlesbrough top of the npower Championship.
Palace came out fighting early on and Jermaine Easter forced Ikeme to make a finger tip save. Jonathan Parr's power shot couldn't beat the Boro keeper either. Boro also forced out a few attacks, Joe Bennett's long range effort on target but straight at Speroni.
After going into the second half still level, the two teams proceeded with more attacks and Justin Hoyte for Middlesbrough skipped past defenders to put in a cross that was deflected towards goal, Speroni tipping the ball over the bar.
Just after the hour mark, Middlesbrough scored the only goal of the game, a long cross to the back post found Marvin Emnes unmarked who powered a right footed volley into the ground and up into the top corner of Speroni's goal. This was Emnes' eighth goal of the season.
Just ten minutes later Middlesbrough went down to ten men as Joe Bennett's challenge on Wilfried Zaha, who spent his time on the pitch harassing defenders with pace and skill, was deemed as a bookable offence which turned out to be his second yellow of the day, meaning he misses out on Tuesday's game.
A few minutes later, Palace's best chance of the game fell to Easter after another display of skill and agility from Zaha took the winger to the touchline, passed back to Easter in acres of space in the box but his shot left the crossbar rattling.
A record 6th successive away win for Tony Mowbray's men and the final whistle put them atop the Championship, until Southampton got the better of Birmingham on Sunday.
Dougie Freedman had this to say:
"I'm disappointed with the result, but not with the way we went about ourselves...
taking nothing away from Middlesbrough, I think we matched them in every department....
we showed a bit of naivety in the last fifteen minutes when they went down to ten men,
I think they're experience helped them alot."
Match Preview:
After their defeat on Saturday, which is their first at home all season, Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman will maybe think about making a few changes to the side from Saturday's line-up. But as the Scot said after the game "I'm proud of my boys...I'm happy with the performance", I doubt he'll make too many. Many fans are exclaiming that Wilfried Zaha should've started from the beginning but as he has proved time and time again, he is better served as an impact sub against big teams like Middlesbrough. He can come on when the opposition are tiring and bring a new pace to Palace's attacks and this is why I expect him to still be on the bench come kick off on Tuesday night.
After beating Wigan Athletic last week, Crystal Palace will fancy their chances in this cup game, despite the loss on Saturday. Fringe players, Jonathan Williams and Nathaniel Pinney are possible bench-warmers for the game. Williams scored his first competitive goal for Palace during the Wigan match and Freedman will look to him and Zaha aswell as Eagles' top scorer Sean Scannell to bring the pace and attack to Boro. I would also not be too shocked to see Anthony Gardner or Antonio Pedroza make appearances as they both are close to match fitness and could make late substitution shows.
Glenn Murray who's thigh strain put him on the bench on Saturday may start on Tuesday but Dougie will not want to risk the ex-Br*ghton striker as he is proving a force to be reckoned with after scoring the equaliser against Blackpool and hitting the woodwork twice against Leeds. I, for one, would like to see the Scannell & Murray partnership more often and if this is the case on Tuesday then be prepared for an exciting game.
Middlesbrough's attacks were strong when coming forward on Saturday and of course they scored the only goal of the game but after Saturday's victory they may see this as an opportunity to rest some of their key players such as Justin Hoyte & Marvin Emnes. Of course there will be a different goalkeeper for The Teesiders as Carl Ikeme's loan contract excludes him for Cup ties.
My CPFC line-up:
Speroni
Ramage McCarthy Tunchev Moxey
Marrow
Williams Parr
Ambrose
Scannell Murray
Subs: Price, Gardner, Dorman, O'Keefe, Jedinak, Zaha, Easter.
Middlesbrough's last 6:
W-W-D-W-W-W
Last time out:
Saturday 17th September, 2011
Crystal Palace 0-1 Middlesbrough
Emnes (65')
Match Facts:
- Crystal Palace have only lost at home once this season, three days ago, to Middlesbrough.
- The two sides have met 44 times, Middlesbrough winning 16, Palace 15, and drawing 13.
- Palace play their third successive cup tie at home this season, scoring two in the last two.
- Palace have not lost in the cup, after scoring first, since 2006.
- Middlesbrough are unbeaten so far this season.
My prediction:
Crystal Palace 1-0 Middlesbrough
Glenn Murray to score.
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