After four goals and two clean sheets in two games saw Southampton beat Sparta Prague and Swansea City respectively, they now face their third game in six days as they welcome former manager Alan Pardew and his Crystal Palace side to St Mary’s in the EFL Cup.
Both sides will be going into the game off the back of decent home victories in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, with Palace thumping Stoke City 4-1 at Selhurst Park and Saints picking up their first league victory of the campaign with a 1-0 home victory over Swansea.
The two teams will be very familiar with each other, having been drawn against each other in the last two FA Cup campaigns, with The Eagles coming out on top in both fixtures and getting all the way to the final last season, only to be beaten by Manchester United at Wembley.
The game will be Claude Puel’s sides first game in the EFL Cup this season, as their European commitments have delayed their start. Palace, on the other hand, went in at the second round stage which saw them overcome League Two outfit Blackpool 2-0 at Selhurst Park.
Jay Rodriguez is set to miss out through a minor leg injury, whilst Florin Gardos is also set to sit out and begin his return to regular football by featuring for Saints’ under-23’s on Friday night.
For Palace, Yohan Cabaye is expected to come back into contention as Pardew considers resting some other key first-team players. However, they will be without Pape Souare who is nursing a broken leg after a shock car crash.
It is thought Puel will turn to youth in Wednesday’s game, with the likes of Jack Stephens, Harrison Reed and Jake Hesketh hoping to be given the chance to impress.
I now take a look back at our last four meetings with The Eagles.
