Crystal Palace

By Charlie Smith Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has heaped praise on Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, claiming the Ivory Coast international is harder to play against than Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Daily Mail report. Despite turning 20 earlier this month, Alexander-Arnold has already come up against the likes of Neymar and Ronaldo in the Champions League, as the Reds made the final of Europe’s most prestigious competition last season. The England international, who has made over 50 appearances for the Reds already, came up against Zaha at Selhurst Park at the end of August, with the Palace forward having the better of the duel across the 90 minutes. And despite Zaha and Palace on the wrong end of a 2-0 score line, Alexander-Arnold admitted the Eagles’ forward was harder to play against than the Brazilian and Portuguese stars. Talking to The Times, the young defender said: With Neymar and Ronaldo, you can see they are very intelligent players, people who know their trade, different movements, but they never got much of the ball against us. Obviously Zaha is not at a level of Ronaldo and Neymar, but for me on the day Zaha was probably the hardest. After Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp rested Alexander-Arnold against Manchester City …read more

By Alex Murray Palace star Wilfried Zaha is to have a fitness test ahead of the clash with Everton after he picked up a knock on international duty. The forward picked up the injury whilst on international duty with the Ivory Coast, with Zaha withdrawing from the squad early before their clash with the Central African Republic. Roy Hodgson confirmed that Zaha had suffered a strain, but denied that the injury was long term. The Palace boss confirmed that Zaha could play some action against the Toffees this weekend, subject to some medical assessments before the clash at Goodison Park. Hodgson said, via Sky Sports: I don’t know where information that this was a two-month injury came from, we’ve never been mindful it would take a long time. It’s a strain that players get on a regular basis, some recover quicker than others and we’re fortunate he is a quicker than normal ‘recoverer’ but it will depend on the extent on the injury whether one week is a possibility in terms of recovery. It’s good news that he’s close enough to be assessed, to see if he is fit enough to play. But you’re taking me into areas of sport science I don’t feel comfortable talking about. My information is …read more

Wayne Hennessey has had a stellar start to this year’s campaign and, as revealed by goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely, is aiming for even greater success going forward. …read more

By Pratyay Maitra After years of turmoil at the club, Everton are trying to build up some success for the long run and have appointed Marco Silva as their new man in charge. The young Portuguese tactician had a couple of impressive yet short-lived spells with Hull City and Watford last year. He is now eyeing greater glory and the Toffees, who had a shaky start to their campaign, have bounced back in recent weeks grabbing back to back wins over Fulham and Leicester City before the international break. They are set to host Crystal Palace at Goodison Park when the season resumes this weekend and their Sunday afternoon tie is tipped to be a close contest versus the Eagles who are struggling in recent weeks but are capable of turning things around under veteran Roy Hodgson. Team News Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina, the summer signings from Barcelona, might finally mark their debut having recovered from thigh and ankle injuries. Seamus Coleman, out with an ankle strain, is closing in on regaining full fitness. However, there is a significant boost in the form of James McCarthy who is ready to be reintegrated in the squad having suffered a horrific leg break earlier this year. …read more

By Alex Murray Former Crystal Palace and Everton striker Andy Johnson has backed the Eagles to beat Everton at Goodison Park this weekend. Palace sit five points behind Everton in the Premier League table. However, Johnson is backing Roy Hodgson’s side to beat the Toffees this weekend. Speaking to Football London, Johnson said: It’s a tough game, and live on Sky. It will be tough, but Everton have found it hard, West Ham went there recently and beat them 3-1, and it is not the place that it was years ago, when it was a really tough place to go because they were almost always expected to win. If Palace start well, with Wilf [Zaha] and the boys getting at them, they will have a great chance. Johnson was Palace’s talisman back in the early 2000’s, firing the Eagles to the Premier League. He would then join Everton in 2006, going on to score 17 goals in 61 games for David Moyes’ side. Palace have some tough games coming up, but Johnson believes the Eagles can still get some points out of them. Palace have got a tough run of games coming up, but it doesn’t work like that. People say you should be beating the teams that have just come up, …read more