Why Crystal Palace could be facing a weakened Aston Villa XI this Saturday

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Crystal Palace have a tough task coming up before the New Year and it starts away from home against Aston Villa on Saturday.

With just one win in 11 games this Premier League season, something has to change quickly for the Eagles.

Oliver Glasner’s side has been atrocious going forward with a lack of chances being created and finishing likely the reason Crystal Palace sit in the relegation zone – although there are reasons to point to for this happening.

Crystal Palace have suffered with injuries – ranking among the top clubs in the division for worst injury records and no doubt this has played a part.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
18	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	11	1	4	6	8	15	-7	7

While there are these factors we can point to for this poor form, things simply must change and quickly – despite Glasner retaining the backing of the club. But points will be what he is judged on in the coming months, and upon returning to Villa Park he will hope to kick start the season.

• READ MORE: Meet Oliver Glasner, the Europa League expert turned Crystal Palace manager

Crystal Palace could face a weaker Aston Villa side

It has almost been a month since Crystal Palace went to Villa Park in the Carabao Cup, winning 2-1 in the process.

In this game, the Eagles took on a weakened Villa side due to their European commitments. Now, ahead of the Premier League clash, Palace could once again be facing a weaker Villa side.

Right now, Villa have an injury list comprising eight players – all of which are important members of their squad to varying degrees.

• Amadou Onana
• Ross Barkley
• Matty Cash
• Boubacar Kamara
• Pau Torres
• Ezri Konsa
• Ian Maatsen
• Jacob Ramsey

An already long list of injuries as presented by Premier Injuries was added to for Unai Emery during the international break with Konsa joining the list as outlined by the Birmingham Mail.

Villa sit 9th in the league and are on a five-game winless streak – with four defeats. This combined with injury worries should make for a competitive game, with Glasner expecting key returns for Palace.

• READ MORE: Full Crystal Palace fixture list for 2024/25 Premier League season

Oliver Glasner needs a win vs Aston Villa

While Glasner is not in a dire situation just yet with his Eagles side, things could very quickly change before December comes to a close – with a very hard run of games.

The Eagles’ tough run before the New Year strikes is well documented and The Athletic have even ranked Crystal Palace’s run as the trickiest in the league with a mean opponent difficulty of 91.

So with games against Newcastle, Man City and Arsenal fast approaching, the Eagles need to be taking points from the more favourable games in this run.

This all starts against Villa, which has become a winnable game due to injuries and their own poor form. Glasner therefore needs to be at the top of his game in this one and lead the Eagles to three points.