We’re straight back into Premier League action this week with an all-London affair against Crystal Palace tomorrow night.

The Eagles go into the game on the back of Saturday’s 4-2 defeat to the reigning Champions Manchester City while we will be buoyed by our late equalizer at home to Everton. Get all the build-up to our Tuesday night action at Selhurst Park below.

The opposition

Patrick Vieira did a fine job during his first year at Selhurst Park, guiding Palace to 12th place while also overhauling a squad that had grown older and older during the previous regime.

With the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen, and Marc Guehi joining Ebere Eze and Wilfried Zaha, Palace went from having the oldest squad in the 2020/21 Premier League to one of the most exciting young squads in the league last year.

That evolution has continued this summer with 18-year-old Malcolm Ebiowei (Derby County), 22-year-old Cheick Doucoure (RC Lens), and 22-year-old Chris Edwards (Bayern Munich) among their summer business.

That’s not to say that Palace have moved away from some of their established stars. Zaha led their scoring charts with 14 goals last season and already has three to his name this time round; two of which came in their 3-1 victory over Aston Villa nine days ago.

That victory over Villa is their only league success of the season so far, but it’s been a tough opening month for Palace with Arsenal, Liverpool, who they drew 1-1 with at Anfield, and Manchester City their other opponents.

Palace have been very efficient in front of goal so far this season. They have by far the best ratio of shots to shots on target in the league, hitting the target with just under half their efforts this term, and have turned just 16 shots on target into six goals.

As you might expect, given the opposition they have played, Palace have faced the third-most shots per game this term and have conceded the third-most goals so far with eight.

The gameplan

Edmund Brack of the South London Press feels Palace have a few ways to approach tomorrow’s game tactically: “It’s interesting. [Vieira] went five at the back against Liverpool, but, against Villa, it was back to a back four.

"Against the top three or four, I think he will go for five at the back to make Palace a bit more defensively sound and try to break the lines with Andersen’s unbelievable diagonal passes but, against Brentford, he will probably go for a 4-3-3 with Eze just in front of the two midfielders to try and create something”

Team news

Pontus Jansson is touch and go with a minor foot injury, while Kristoffer Ajer might be included in the squad for the first time this season following his hamstring issue. Sergi Canos (hamstring) and Ethan Pinnock (knee) remain out, while Mikkel Damsgaard will only be an option off the bench.

Crystal Palace will be hoping Wilfried Zaha recovers from the knock that kept him out of Saturday’s trip to the Etihad Stadium in time for tomorrow night. There’s also a concern over left-back Tyrick Mitchell after he was forced off in the second half on Saturday. Nathan Ferguson, Jack Butland, James McArthur, and James Tomkins are Palace’s longer-term absentees.

The manager

Before returning to the Premier League as a manager last summer, Vieira was widely regarded as one of the best midfielders to have graced the competition as a player.

He was one of Arsene Wenger's first signings as Arsenal manager when he moved to North London from AC Milan in 1996, at the age of 20.

A fearless competitor, he helped Arsenal win the Premier League three times - including the 2003/04 'Invincibles' season - and the FA Cup on four occasions.

Vieira, who was nominated for the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021, also won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 with France.

He went on to enjoy spells in Italy with Juventus and Inter Milan, where he won the Serie A title three times, before finishing his career with Manchester City and winning the 2011 FA Cup.

Vieira started his managerial career at Manchester City, taking charge of their Premier League 2 side, before assuming his first senior post as head coach with Major League Soccer side New York City FC in January 2016.

In June 2018 Vieira returned to France when he was appointed manager Nice. He guided the Ligue 1 side to a seventh-placed finish in 2018/19 and fifth in 2019/20, before parting company with the club in December 2020 and arriving at Palace six months later.

Opposition view

Patrick Vieira told cpfc.com "You just have to look at the game they played against United with a lot of tempo, a lot of aggression. This is a team that can press high and try to win the ball in the opposition half and we’ll have to be really good on the ball if we want to play our game.

“It’s a team that physically are really strong, work really hard, and the opposition team don’t create very much. They are playing with a lot of confidence, with a system that suits the players and we will have to be ready physically, tactically, to perform as best as we can."

Last time out

Match officials

Referee: Simon Hooper

Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes and Mark Scholes

Fourth Official: James Bell

Video Assistant Referee: Craig Pawson

Additional Video Assistant Referee: Neil Davies

Experienced Wiltshire referee, Simon Hooper, who tried to make it as a professional footballer in his youth, first took charge of games in the EFL back in 2008 and was appointed to the Select Group 1 of Premier League referees in the summer of 2018.

During that time, he has taken charge of 23 Brentford games as both Hooper, and we, have worked our way up the divisions. Hooper's first game came in October 2008 away at Aldershot in League Two before seven Sky Bet League One assignments between 2009 and 2013 followed.

In the Sky Bet Championship, he was the man in charge for our unforgettable 4-1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage in April 2015 and also refereed our 1-0 win at home to QPR in October of that same year.

Last season’s three games all came at the Brentford Community Stadium. His first outing was our record-breaking 7-0 Carabao Cup Third Round win over Oldham Athletic. He then took charge of October's defeat to Leicester City and February’s draw against tomorrow’s opponents.

Crystal Palace 22/23

48 fouls - 3rd most in Premier League

9 yellow cards – 5th-most in Premier League

0 red cards – Joint-fewest in Premier League