Crystal Palace vs Fulham

Out-of-form Fulham head to Selhurst Park to meet Crystal Palace in a mid-table Premier League clash on Boxing Day.

Crystal Palace spent a large portion of a mid-season break on a warm-weather training camp in Turkey but only managed one win from four exhibition matches in south Europe (D2, L1). Manager Patrick Vieira is not under pressure despite losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest last time out, though another failure could soak Palace into a dreaded relegation fight. With 18th-placed Forest only six points adrift, Palace’s 11th place in the Premier League standings suddenly doesn’t look comfortable, yet their home form waxes lyrical about their hopes of steering further away from the drop zone. The ‘Eagles’ had racked up three straight Premier League victories at Selhurst Park ahead of the international break and could make it four top-flight home wins in a row for the first time since 1990.

Standing between Palace a piece of history will be a Fulham side that entered the World Cup break on the back of a three-match winless Premier League streak (D1, L2). Consistency has been an issue for Marco Silva’s team on the road of late, as the visitors’ last five away league fixtures have fluctuated between victories (2) and defeats (3). Another stern test is seemingly waiting in the wings, with the ‘Cottagers’ drawing a blank in three of their four Premier League away encounters against Palace overall (W1, D1, L2). With that in mind, Fulham wouldn’t mind a share of the spoils, and with six of their last eight top-flight Boxing Day fixtures ending as a draw (W1, D1), that’s a possibility. But winless in their five previous Premier League clashes against Palace (D2, L3), they’ll have to earn it.