A London derby between Crystal Palace and Fulham will take place at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day to celebrate their returns to Premier League play.
Follow Us
Selhurst Park has experienced yet another erratic season of instability, but under Patrick Vieira, who is aiming for his team to upset the top-half apple cart in the second half of the campaign, the positive indicators much outweigh the negative ones. Palace’s entry into the World Cup break was far from ideal as the Eagles lost to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League without scoring a goal. The Eagles also struggled in more than one of their winter friendlies. Palace has a total of 19 points from 14 games, which puts them in the top half of the standings. However, their meagre goal total of 15 is only slightly better than that of the lowest five teams in the division, and both of their most recent Boxing Day games resulted in 3-0 losses. But for Crystal Palace, home is where the heart is. In their last 13 home games, only Chelsea and Arsenal have defeated Vieira’s team at Selhurst Park. They have also defeated Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Southampton in consecutive Premier League matches.
The World Cup break may have also come at the perfect time for Fulham, who may have run out of gas after an impressive first half of the season that helped them maintain their position in the top half of the rankings. It was a difficult task for Marco Silva’s team to play both Manchester clubs in the span of seven days; despite only losing 2-1 to Manchester City and Manchester United, respectively, it required two injury-time goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Erling Braut Haaland to settle those games. Fulham’s theme in the top flight this season has been goal-filled away games. Silva’s team has scored 10 goals and given up 13 more in their last six such contests. Fulham now faces the possibility of becoming the first team in Premier League history to suffer three straight defeats thanks to 90+ minute winners. Since holding the Eagles to a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park in February 2021, Fulham has lost all five of their Premier League encounters with the Eagles. It has also been more than nine years since the visitors last scored or triumphed there.
As a result of Marc Guehi’s one-game suspension for receiving too many yellow cards, Crystal Palace will need to reorganise their defence. James Tomkins and Joachim Andersen, a returning Dane, should fill in for Guehi. Sam Johnstone, the goalkeeper, is set to be out until February due to a coccyx injury, but he will be joined by James McArthur and Nathan Ferguson, who are also not expected to return to duty before the new year.
The Serbian international may not be ready for Boxing Day for Fulham, whose nine-goal striker Mitrovic returned from the World Cup with a minor foot ailment, and the same is true for left-back Antonee Robinson, who also has a foot issue. Silva has acknowledged this. Layvin Kurzawa and Manor Solomon are no longer in the running after experiencing setbacks in their recoveries, while Neeskens Kebano still has a few months of therapy before his Achilles rupture is entirely recovered.
Crystal Palace possible line-up: Guaita; Clyne, Andersen, Tomkins, Mitchell; Schlupp, Doucoure, Eze; Ayew, Edouard, Zaha
Fulham possible line-up: Leno; Tete, Adarabioyo, Diop, Ream; Reed, Palhinha; Reid, Pereira, Willian; Vinicius
Crystal Palace
| Opponents | Score |
| Valladolid | 2-1 (W) |
| Napoli | 1-3 (L) |
| Trabzonspor | 2-2 (D) |
| Botafogo RJ | 0-0 (D) |
| Nottingham | 0-1 (L) |
Fulham
| Opponents | Score |
| West Ham | 1-1 (D) |
| Manchester United | 1-2 (L) |
| Manchester City | 1-2 (L) |
| Everton | 0-0 (D) |
| Leeds | 3-2 (W) |
| All competitions | Results |
| Fulham draw Crystal Palace | 0-0 |
| Crystal Palace beat Fulham | 2-1 |
| Crystal Palace beat Fulham | 2-0 |
| Crystal Palace beat Fulham | 2-0 |
| Fulham beat Crystal Palace | 3-1 |
The Premier League match between Fulham and Crystal Palace will take place at Selhurst Park (London) on Monday at 20:30 pm IST.
The live telecast of the Premier League matches in India is available on the Star Sports network. Fans will also be able to watch the live streaming on Disney+ Hotstar and JioTV. Besides, the match between Crystal Palace and Fulham can also be seen on Amazon Prime Video, BBC Radio 5 Live, TalkSport Radio UK in the United Kingdom.
