County will be looking to make headlines in the Emirates FA Cup once again this weekend, as we travel to Premier League side Crystal Palace looking to reach the fourth round for the first time since 2001.
Dave Challinor’s side have had a habit of knocking sides from higher divisions out of this competition in recent years, but face a different challenge entirely on Sunday afternoon in what is our first away game at a Premier League side since facing Watford in 2007.
We go into the weekend off the back of a challenging run over the festive period, with last weekend’s 2-1 loss at home to Mansfield Town making it four without a win in League One. We currently sit in 7th after 25 games, three points off a play-off spot.
So far in the Cup, County have beaten two non-league sides in Forest Green Rovers and Brackley Town to reach this stage. It’s the third time in five seasons that we have reached this stage of the competition, but we haven’t progressed beyond this round since our time as a Championship club.
County were competing in the same league as Crystal Palace back in those days, but the Eagles are now an established Premier League side – currently enjoying their 12th consecutive season at that level. The 2016 FA Cup runners-up came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea at the weekend, a result that leaves them 15th in the top flight, five points above the relegation zone, having lost just two of their last 12 league games.
Our Opponents:
Since winning promotion from the Championship via the play-offs under Ian Holloway in 2013, Palace have gone on to establish themselves as a mainstay in England’s top-flight.
In the 11 seasons since that victory over Watford at Wembley, the Club have never finished lower than 15th, whilst last season saw the Eagles record a top-half finish for just the second time in the Premier League era under Austrian boss Oliver Glasner.
They began the 2023/24 campaign under the management of former England boss Roy Hodgson, who had returned to his boyhood Club the previous season for a second spell in charge, guiding them to safety in the Premier League before extending his contract for another year.
Last season was not as straightforward for the 76-year-old however, as from October onward the side embarked on a run of just three wins in 16 Premier League games, with ten defeats in that time, leaving them five points above the relegation zone in 16th.
At that point, following a 3-1 defeat at home to Chelsea, it was announced that Hodgson would be stepping down from his role in order to allow the Club to bring forward their plans to appoint a a new manager.
In doing so, the Club turned to former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner. The 50-year-old Austrian joined after a successful spell with the Bundesliga side, guiding them to victory in the Europa League in 2022, thus earning the Club a place in the Champions League for the first time since 1960.
Despite winning only one of his first six games in charge at Selhurst Park, Glasner’s influence on Palace’s playing style was apparent, and that soon began to pay off in some style. In April, Palace ended Liverpool’s 29-game unbeaten home run with a 1-0 win at Anfield, a result that sparked a run of six wins from their final seven league games – form that included a 4-0 win against Manchester United and a final day 5-0 demolition of Champions League-bound Aston Villa.
That end of season surge saw Palace eventually finish in 10th, their joint-highest finish in the Premier League era, whilst they finished closer to the top four than they did the bottom three.
Having kept hold of Glasner over the Summer despite reported interest elsewhere, optimism was high at Selhurst Park over the Summer as the Club looked to build on that strong finish, despite the loss of star man Michael Olise to Bayern Munich in the transfer window.
In his absence though, the Londoners struggled in the opening weeks of the campaign, picking up only three points from their opening eight league outings to sit in the relegation zone by late October.
A first league win of the campaign was secured at the ninth attempt against Tottenham Hotspur, thanks to a goal from French forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, and since then Palace have lost just twice in 12 league outings.
Too many draws has been the issue however – nine of them so far; only rivals Brighton & Hove Albion have more in the top flight this season. Of their four league wins, two of them have come against sides in the bottom three, although they have recently claimed impressive points against Chelsea and Manchester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
With a five-point gap between themselves and Ipswich Town in 18th, Palace will be looking to kick on in the second half of the campaign, with Glasner recently stating he expects the Club to be busy in the January transfer window. Having been knocked out at this stage in the last two seasons by Everton and Southampton, the Austrian will no doubt be looking for a strong cup run this time round to breathe fresh momentum into a stuttering league campaign.
Match Stats:
- Sunday will be the 24th competitive meeting between the two sides, and the first since January 2002. County have won four of those previous encounters to Palace’s 11.
- Our only previous win at Selhurst Park came in September 1972 – a 1-0 League Cup win secured thanks to a goal from Hugh Ryden.
- County will be looking to beat Premier League opposition for the first time since winning 1-0 at Middlesbrough in the second leg of the 1996/97 League Cup semi-final. Our last FA Cup win against top-flight opposition came in 1994, when Danny Bergara’s side knocked QPR out at Edgeley Park.
