Friends, Happy New Year, and wish all your friends good health and peace in the new year.
At 1:30 a.m. Beijing time on January 2, Crystal Palace will welcome the 21st round opponent West Ham United at home.
Home team: The home team had a bad time in December last year, and in the whole of December 6 games, they scored a total of 7 points.
It is said that this result is also reasonable, but it is actually a bit unreasonable to look at the opponents they score and look at the strength of the home team.
The home team won the long-awaited victory in the last round and morale is picking up.
Away team: The away team's journey in December is somewhat similar to the home team, 9 rounds of 8 points, from the Premier League pattern revolutionaries at the beginning of the season, to the current decline, what have they experienced?
Like the home team, they are starting to win and morale is up a bit.
Home team: There is good news and a bad news.
The good news is that Zaha has returned from the ban and the team is currently well-staffed on the offensive line.
Bad news, because of the positive test, Gallagher may still have difficulty returning to the team.
The home team's current offensive ability does not have to worry, Zaha returns, Edward, Matta has been in pretty good shape lately, and even Ayu, who has not scored a goal in ten thousand years, has begun to do the right thing.
The loss of Gallagher in midfield is not small, his position is the right rib of the midfield, if Crystal Palace is really an eagle, his position is exactly the position of the wing.
This young player, relying on his excellent running and shooting ability, played a role in the team such as bottle opener, stepping stone, metronome and so on.
Hughes and Schloop are good midfielders, but their versatility and diligence are hard to match.
The rear defense has not changed much recently but has some hidden dangers.
Ward and Mitchell on both sides have been quite impressive recently, the centre-back combination is relatively stable for now, and Anderson may be absent from this game, but it will have little impact.
Against Norwich in the last round, if you only look at the scores, you may think that there is nothing wrong with the defense.
But from the actual content of the game, Tanuki feels that the score of 3-0 is somewhat deceptive, and it is more reasonable to remove the luck factor, 3-1 or even 3-2.
In the face of Norwich, whose attack power is already very weak, the defensive line is still frequently dangerous, which shows that the defense is still a bit problematic.
Judging from the lineup, the main team attack line is strong, the midfield is missing a wing, and the rear defense is somewhat worried.
Injury: MacArthur (uncertain) Gallagher (positive/uncertain) Orisei (positive/uncertain)
Away team: The current away team is in stark contrast to the good momentum at the beginning of the season.
The reason, which is also a cliché, is the thickness of the lineup.
Without Antonio, there is no center, now less O'Bonner and Zuma, dawson has a problem, there is no one in the center back.
If the two of them are not present at the same time, they will almost completely lose the two major reliances of high ball and set-piece defense.
Fortunately, after losing air firepower, the team's current ground offensive began to pick up.
Benrahma, Bowen, Lancini, and Antonio, who learned to pass, formed what is now the Ground Assault Force.
In particular, Lancini, the previous thigh of the team, is now slowly showing its importance.
The home team has only two ways of playing, one is a bottom cross and the other is Lancini.
When he was on the pitch, he formed a midfield iron triangle with Shochechrys, which could be attacked and defended, and after liberating the insertion ability of the two backs, the team's offensive ability was obviously improved.
Although the knee has experienced a major injury and the ability to break through has declined, he is still there, and his skillful small skills have made the home team's midfield flexible and changeable.
It can be seen that the team's offensive ability is steadily recovering.
At the back, Rice returned, Shoczek was in good shape and had nothing to worry about.
The only thing to worry about is the team's defense.
Diop was young, and there was always a fear that he would collapse under the weight of a game.
Dawson has collapsed, the last round against Watford, he was confused by Dennis, if it is not the overall downturn of the opponent, he can make a big fuss about this point.
What's even more frightening is that the two men in the center-back position, whether injured or depressed, the team is basically irreplaceable.
The full-back said that as long as both sides do not have problems at the same time, there will be salvation.
At present, the away team attack cluster is formed, the midfield is flat and stable, and the rear defense is precarious.
Injury: Zuma O'Bonner Cresville Fornals (positive/uncertain)
Home: If nothing else, Vieira is able to return to the pitch to direct.
From the reuse of Ayo, it can be seen that the Arsenal star is quite stubborn.
This stubbornness once made Tanuki think that Ayo might be his illegitimate son (I don't believe you compare the photos of the two of them)
But judging by Ayu's recent performances, his trust has paid off.
The team currently has the following two main advantages.
1. Breakthrough propulsion capability.
Whether it's Zaha, or Edward and Matta, either speed or breakthrough, they can be in the top few in the league in terms of propulsion ability. The visiting team's Dawson suffered a bit in this game, and if he continues to be in the first half, the away team's goal is a good thing for the home team.
2. Odd Soldier attributes and second half power.
This advantage may not be played in this game, the previous two big surprise soldiers, Edward and Orise, one is the starter, and one positive cannot appear. The second half of the force of this, in front of the away team, it was the class door to get the axe.
Compared to the advantages, the home team has many weaknesses.
1. Midfield control capability.
Although Hughes has a good ability to take the ball, the team relies more on Gallagher's unremitting running to make up for the shortcomings of the team's lack of control in midfield, and this round of Gallagher is not there, and the tide may fade.
2. Insufficient defensive ability.
Judging from the last round of matches, in front of norwich, who is so weak in attack, there will be a lot of noise in front of the goal, which shows that defense is the team's shortcoming.
This also explains why in many games, the home team often occupies the advantage, but often misses three points, and loses after the front is completed.
3. Poor set-piece high ball ability.
Still from the last round of matches, Norwich, a team that is not good at high balls, can give the home team several threats on corners and headers.
Combined with previous league stats, the home team's ability to defend high balls and set pieces is really not good (corner balls conceded 9 goals set pieces conceded 7 goals)
This round against the away team is a gun muzzle, although the away team lost most of the air superiority, but to deal with the home team's high-altitude defense hard hand, should still be at ease.
Strangely enough, the away team has an air bully like Benteke, but it is also a hard hand in attacking corner kicks on set-pieces, and so far this season, their set-piece goals are few.
Away team: Moyes has been criticized for only playing the bottom cross.
There is nothing wrong with that, and it is also true that he made the team a "cross-link" when he was coaching Manchester United.
After coaching the visiting team, he has been looking for new offensive routines.
Judging from their last round of matches, it seems that he succeeded.
Four goals, all on the ground with their feet, were unimaginable before that.
But considering the opponent's poor defense, Tanuki felt that it was still necessary to observe.
The team's weaknesses have been said many times in previous articles and in the previous lineup, so I won't dwell on them here.
Tanuki has only recently discovered a new characteristic of them: short consecutive goals.
Since the last two rounds of matches, the home team has not scored, and one goal is to score in a few minutes. This feature is very scary, especially for teams with weak defense or weak will, in the case of consecutive goals conceded in a short period of time, the defense line is very easy to collapse.
And these two points, the home team is more or less stained.
The referee of this game is Michael Oliver, this big brother's law enforcement style is a bit sinister, at the beginning he will often put the penalty scale very loosely, and then suddenly tighten the mouth, at this time the players who are still stabbed will not have good fruit to eat.
Considering that both teams are quite fierce in defense and their actions are not small, this game will not be able to get yellow cards flying all over the sky.
If Rice makes this appearance, he will be the youngest player to make 150 appearances for the Hammer (22 years and 352 days), a record nearly three years younger than his predecessor (Noble 25 years and 267 days).
Crystal Palace has never won a game during New Year's Day in Premier League history? (Doubtful, there is a big god who knows please correct)
Antonio has scored 11 goals in the last 12 London derbys (5 goals and 6 assists)
Edward has scored four goals (1 goal and 3 assists) in his last three league games, which is more than his previous 13 league games combined (3 goals).
1. Showdown in the second half.
Considering the characteristics of the two teams, it is not surprising that the decisive battle of this game will occur in the second half of the second half.
2. Gunpowder smells strong.
Both teams are quite fierce, wrestling, boxing level is not low, it is recommended that fans who like to watch lively and MMA fans do not miss this game, of course, the probability of red cards in this game will also increase.
3. Benteke.
The away team's recent skyrocketing air defense capabilities, Benteke, could be the key to settling the game.
It's funny, the home team is nicknamed the Eagles, but the air combat ability is really average, the away team is nicknamed the Hammer, but before that, it is a real flying hammer.
In terms of the comparison of strength and the characteristics of the two teams, the two teams are inseparable.
Tanuki is more inclined to score points for the away team.
Because, when a war breaks out, the party that has the new weapon is more likely to win.