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Crystal Palace Fan View: Eagles' resolve set to be tested

Glenn Murray’s goal ensured it was Brighton, not Crystal Palace, that would take part in the FA Cup this weekend
Glenn Murray’s goal ensured it was Brighton, not Crystal Palace, that would take part in the FA Cup this weekend

Brighton ensured that Crystal Palace weren’t involved in the FA cup this weekend and, instead, we must just be content to look on while counting our injuries. Given our recent history with injuries, it’s hard to be too disappointed at missing another opportunity to rule a key player out for the season, especially given our horror-show of fixtures over the next month.

Our reasonable performances and results in the last few months have lulled us into a false sense of security – that is certainly the case for me. A tally of 27 points is a reasonable at this stage of the season, but the closeness of the bottom 10 is unparalleled compared to recent seasons, which means we’ve still got work to do and survival is no formality.

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Wilfried Zaha is likely to miss at least next weekend’s game against Tottenham
Wilfried Zaha is likely to miss at least next weekend’s game against Tottenham

The reality is that 40 points have only been necessary for survival once in the last 10 seasons, but there is certainly reason to believe this season could make it two in 10. Newcastle, in 13th, are just a single point above Crystal Palace, while Southampton, in 18th, are just one point below us, with 19th-placed Stoke only a point below them.

This, combined with our fixtures, means that the only reason we may be spared 20th place in a month’s time is the ineptness of West Brom. Manchester United and Chelsea follow Tottenham next Sunday, all three of which have little reason to step off the gas as they continue to pursue a top-four spot.

We’ll have to do it with a misfiring Christian Benteke, without Wilfried Zaha for at least part of the run and with a string of other long-term injuries which would test even the strongest squads. It looks pretty grim, but even if the worst should happen in the next month, it’s still won’t be time to panic.

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Working on the basis we will actually need 40 points, we need to find four wins and a draw between now and the end of the season. Say we lose to Tottenham, United and Chelsea in the next three games, and then Liverpool two weeks’ later. There will still be seven games in which to determine our fate, games against Watford, Stoke and Brighton, as well as hosting the potentially-relegated Baggies on the final-day.

The sparse fixture list means Zaha won’t miss too many games, Ruben Loftus-Cheek could feature towards the end of the season and players like Mamadou Sakho have come back into contention in the last couple of weeks. January signing Sorloth turned in an impressive debut, Jach and Rakip are yet to feature, but will certainly be up to speed in the next couple of weeks, ready for the pivotal run-in.

Even if we don’t win a single game against the ‘big clubs’ we play in the next couple of months, we could still stay up with time to spare. Plus, that isn’t even accounting for the three points we have managed to take off Liverpool in each of the last three seasons. When our backs were up against the wall last season, we had a similarly horrible run of games and came out of it having beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

No need to panic quite yet…