Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa preview

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Team news

James Tomkins will miss out for Crystal Palace as he is still yet to return to full training, while Scott Dann will undergo a late fitness check after he was left in a cast when his arm was 'stamped on' against Colchester in midweek.

Matt Targett, James Chester and Jonathan Kodjia will all miss out for Aston Villa, but manager Dean Smith says the rest of his side are "all fit and raring to go".

How to watch

Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published at 5.15pm on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.

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Opta stats

• Crystal Palace and Aston Villa last faced off in January 2016, when Villa secured one of their three Premier League wins in 2015-16 against the Eagles at Villa Park.
• Aston Villa have won just one of their last 13 away games in all competitions against Crystal Palace (W1 D6 L6), a 1-0 win in December 2014.
• Aston Villa will be looking to win consecutive Premier League games for the first time since May 2015, when they beat Everton (3-2) and West Ham (1-0) under Tim Sherwood.
• Crystal Palace have won 10 Premier League matches in 2019; only Manchester City (19), Liverpool (16) and Arsenal (12) have registered more victories this year. Indeed, since beating Fulham at the start of February, only Manchester City (49) and Liverpool (45) have earned more Premier League points than the Eagles (30).
• In Premier League history, Crystal Palace have won just 51 per cent of their total points in home games (221/433), the lowest such ratio in the competition.
• Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has won more Premier League games against Aston Villa than he has vs any other side (P11 W7 D2 L2). He's won his first meeting with them with each of his previous four clubs in the competition (Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion).
• Crystal Palace's Jordan Ayew scored seven goals in 30 Premier League games for Aston Villa in the 2015-16 campaign. The Villans have had 38 different players to score both for and against them in the Premier League - only West Ham have had more.

Charlie Nicholas' prediction

Aston Villa got a big lift against Everton. Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Jack Grealish can pull the strings. McGinn doesn't need to hold as he has an abundance of energy. Luiz is technically decent, but I would want him to adjust to the English way and understand how his fellow midfielders play. Grealish needs to play higher up the pitch. Wesley is up and running now, so those are promising signs for them.

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So far, Crystal Palace have been unpredictable. Wilfried Zaha must have accepted the reality now he is back in the team. I saw them win at Man United, but where did that come from? Jordan Ayew was so composed with the first goal, and they will always be well-drilled under Roy Hodgson.

I am amazed that Christian Benteke has been offered a new contract. Gary Cahill was solid with his position and took a yellow card rather than give away a penalty. Everything he did, he did with assurance and experience. He could be something they have been waiting for. I do not know what you will get from them coming forward, but because of the unpredictability I am going to go 1-1. I wouldn't mind watching the game, as you do not know which way it is going to go.

CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-1 (5/1 with Sky Bet)

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