Media view: Expert insight on Crystal Palace

Ahead of the game, afcb.co.uk caught up with Football.London’s Crystal Palace writer, Robert Warlow, to find out what the Cherries can expect from Roy Hodgson’s side. 

afcb.co.uk: How has the start of the season gone for Palace?

RW: Ahead of the season, I think Palace would have taken the points that they have got so far. They started off well with the win against Fulham, then went a little bit flat with defeats against Liverpool (which no-one was knocking), Watford, and Southampton, but they’ve come back from the international break and picked up four points from the last two games against Huddersfield and Newcastle.

Seven points from the first six games isn’t disastrous by any stretch of the imagination. It’s respectable and it gives them something to build on. It’s certainly better than the start to last season when they were on zero points after seven games.

afcb.co.uk: Wilfried Zaha has been in the headlines lately, not just for his goals, but also his comments about refereeing decisions going against him. Is there a concern that this could affect his football?

RW: Roy Hodgson said after the Newcastle game that he wondered whether those comments influenced his game. He was quieter, but I think he had pulled up a couple of times in the warm up with what looked like a back problem.

I’m sure that affected him on the day because he was quieter than normal, but there’s no doubt he’s still the star man as he’s got that ability to produce something out of nothing. He didn’t do it against Newcastle but he’s done it numerous times before and I’m sure he’ll do it again. Everyone’s allowed an off day.

afcb.co.uk: You mention Roy Hodgson, what’s the mood around him since he came in early last season?

RW: The fans have certainly taken to him, at the end of the season they were singing ‘he’s one of our own,’ what with him being a Croydon boy who grew up in the area. There’s a romantic side to the story with him coming back to manage the club. He certainly won over a few doubters last year with the way he got the team playing and out of trouble from where they were when he took over.

He got them organised and playing a good style of football to get them climbing the table. To finish eleventh was a great effort, and I think a lot of Palace fans were happy that he signed a contract extension at the beginning of this season, hoping that he can carry on from last season and take the club forward.

afcb.co.uk: With that in mind, what are the expectations for Crystal Palace this season?

RW: They would certainly like to get into the top ten and it’s not beyond them to do so. They’re capable and have got the players in the squad needed. Keeping Zaha fit will obviously be key to that. There’s a good, solid defence now too with Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins at the heart of it. They’ve got a settled back four which is helping.

With players like Andros Townsend, Zaha, and James McArthur, there’s plenty of goals in the team going forward. Christian Benteke had a difficult season last year. The top scorer was Luka Milivojevic with ten goals, quite a few of them being penalties or free-kicks, so they do need to find someone who can get them 15 or 20 goals a season if they’re going to get into the top ten.

For a lot of fans, they’d be happy with avoiding a relegation battle this season. There’s been so many times in the last few seasons where they’ve flirted with it and got out late on so they’d quite happily take a season without any drama, maybe finishing twelfth or thirteenth.

Everyone would love to get into the top ten and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility, but somewhere in mid-table is probably more realistic for Palace.

afcb.co.uk: Last season, Bournemouth drew with Crystal Palace 2-2 on both occasions. What have you made of the Cherries start to this season and what are you expecting from Monday night’s game?

RW: They’ve started quite well. The last game was a bit of a blip against Burnley, but I always think with Bournemouth that – particularly when they play Palace – there will be goals in the game. Both teams to score again would be a safe bet. These games quite often end in a draw with a few goals so I think it will be similar. It should be two teams going at each other, with the way both sides play.

The way Palace play, particularly away from home, lends themselves to counter attacking football and catching teams on the break. That could play into Bournemouth’s hands who, obviously as the home side, will want to go at them and take the game to them, but Palace have got that ability to hit them on the break.

I think it will be a good game and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a draw again. Recent history suggests it could be a score draw.

You can follow Robert on Twitter at @robwarlow_cpfc.