Another chapter of the rivalry between Crystal Palace and Brighton will be written on Monday evening when the two sides face off at Selhurst Park, with just three points separating them in the Premier League table.
The Eagles have enjoyed an impressive campaign so far, winning six and drawing four of their 16 league outings while keeping an eye-catching six clean sheets – more than most teams in England’s top-flight have managed so far.
In Brighton’s case, the Seagulls have also been in good form, maintaining a performance level that has seen Graham Potter rewarded with a two-year contract extension just six months after being appointed as manager.
However, while the south Londoners go into this game as slight favourites in terms of league standing, Hodgson has a number of injury problems to deal with.
Jeffrey Schlupp and Joel Ward are definite absentees, while Patrick van Aanholt is also a doubt – Mamadou Sakho is suspended after picking up a red card against Bournemouth.
As a result, here’s the XI we think the former England manager should deploy on Monday evening…
We think that the 72-year-old should make one change from the XI that started against Watford, bringing in Jairo Riedewald for the injured Jeffrey Schlupp.
The former Ajax man came off the bench against the Hornets at half-time to replace the Ghanaian, and proceeded to deliver a decent cameo appearance which impressed these Palace fans on Twitter.
Riedewald – a Netherlands international – hasn’t started a Premier League game for nearly two years since a 1-0 loss to Tottenham on the 25th February 2018. The fact that Aaron Wan-Bissaka – a man who has since made a name for himself and left Selhurst Park – made his club debut in that game is telling.
Other than that, we would make no other changes from the 0-0 draw against Watford.
That means there is no place for Max Meyer – who Bild report is becoming frustrated under Hodgson – as well as Christian Benteke, who is still yet to score a goal this season.
Germany international Meyer has started just two Premier League games this term, and doesn’t seem like he would be able to get into the game amongst a packed midfield consisting of physical performers such as Davy Propper, Luka Milivojevic and Cheikhou Kouyate due to his 5 foot 8 frame.
In terms of Benteke, Jordan Ayew has scored four goals this term while impressing with his committed work rate levels, so there is no reason to drop him.
In other news, this Crystal Palace target was his side’s biggest goal threat against Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday…
