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TEAM NEWS
Crystal Palace will be without midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is suffering from a groin problem.
Defender Jairo Riedewald should shake off a knock to start but Wilfried Zaha remains out with a knee injury.
Swansea could hand a debut to midfielder Sam Clucas, a midweek signing from Hull City, while Leon Britton is available after a back strain.
However, forward Fernando Llorente is still recovering from a broken arm.
Centre-back Kyle Bartley is also out with medial ligament damage sustained in the EFL Cup win at MK Dons.
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
John Roder: “Five teams failed to score in their opening two Premier League games this season, including Crystal Palace and Swansea.
“My Palace-supporting friend is describing this as a huge fixture ahead of what he expects to be another struggle to avoid relegation.
“Paul Clement had just been appointed when Swansea won 2-1 at Selhurst Park in January. It meant the Swans completed the double over Palace, having won 5-4 in a thrilling encounter in November at the Liberty.
“Given the two teams’ respective scoring records so far, another nine-goal afternoon is probably not on the cards. A one-goal victory would be perfectly satisfactory for either side.”
Twitter: @johnrodercomm
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Swansea City head coach Paul Clement: “In all our games last year, there wasn’t one where I thought afterwards that we’d created loads of chances. But the games we won were the ones where we were clinical.
“That’s what you have to be when you are playing against well-organised teams who are hard to break down.
“”He [Palace boss Frank de Boer] is trying to change the culture and how they play and that is not an easy thing to do. It takes time to develop, but he was a great player and has a lot of experience as a manager too.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
I saw Palace at Liverpool last week and they were quite comfortable. It looked like they were going to pinch a draw. But it was a much better performance, more like the Palace of last year.
As for Swansea, Paul Clement needs to get Fernando Llorente back. Not having your main striker is even more damaging for teams who are likely to be in the lower half of the table.
Prediction: 2-1
Lawro’s full predictions v American actor Channing Tatum.
- Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round’s Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Crystal Palace have won just one of their last 12 league meetings with Swansea City (D5, L6), a 1-0 home win in May 2015.
- Swansea beat Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park in January, with head coach Paul Clement watching from the stands before taking over.
- This was the highest scoring fixture in the top flight last season, with 12 goals scored over the two games.
- However, both teams are yet to score in the Premier League this season.
Crystal Palace
- Palace have lost six of their previous seven Premier League games, failing to score in each defeat.
- The Eagles could lose their first three league games for the first time since 2012-13 in the Championship. That season they won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.
- Frank de Boer is only the second Dutch manager to lose his first two Premier League games after Martin Jol, who lost his opening three in the competition.
- Wayne Hennessey has made 15 Premier League saves this season (six more than any other goalkeeper), with 12 of those coming in their last match at Liverpool.
Swansea City
- Swansea are the only side yet to have a shot on target in the Premier League this season.
- The last time the Swans failed to score in their opening two league matches was in 2011, when they went four top-flight matches without a goal.
- They could equal their club record of three consecutive away clean sheets in the top flight, which was set between February and March 1982.
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| SAM’s verdict | |
|---|---|
| Most probable score: 1-0 | Probability of draw: 26% |
| Probability of home win: 51% | Probability of away win: 23% |
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.
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