League One outfit Stockport County travel to Selhurst Park this weekend, hoping to upset the odds against Crystal Palace in the third round of the FA Cup.
The hosts have only reached the fourth round of the competition once in the past five seasons, but they come into this tie as firm favourites against a club two divisions below them.
Match preview
© Imago
Although early exits from the FA Cup have been a theme at Palace in recent years, the Eagles have also experienced some highs in the competition — notably, they were semi-finalists in 2022 and runners-up in 2016.
This season started poorly for Oliver Glasner's men, as they began their league campaign with five defeats and three draws in their first eight matches.
Since then, they have only lost twice in their following 12 games, and they continued their recent resurgence with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea last time out.
Despite their improvement in form, the hosts have only won four games in the league this season and are only five points clear of the Premier League drop zone.
One key issue contributing to their struggles has been a lack of goals, with only three teams scoring fewer than Palace's 21 goals in the league this season.
© Imago
With League One opposition visiting this weekend, the hosts will look to boost their confidence in front of goal against a team aiming for consecutive promotions, following their League Two title triumph last season.
Stockport climbed as high as third in the league by the end of November, but a recent run of two wins in their last eight league games has seen them slip just outside the playoff places.
A driving force behind County's promotion push has been the goals of Louie Barry, who still leads the league in scoring with 15 goals, despite recently being recalled by his parent club Aston Villa.
Replacing Barry's contributions will be a difficult challenge, and entering a cup tie without their biggest goal threat makes the task of knocking out Premier League opposition even more difficult.
The Hatters have struggled to win on the road this season, and while their away record is far from the worst in League One, they have only won three times on their travels in the league.
To stand any chance of progressing to the next round, they will need to get their first win away from home since November, with Dave Challinor's side losing three of their last four away matches.
Should they win, it would mark their first progression to the fourth round of the tournament since 2001, the year that they were knocked out in the fifth round by Tottenham Hotspur.
Unlike their opponents, the visitors have had to play twice already to reach the third round, with wins at home to Forest Green Rovers and Brackley Town in the earlier rounds booking County's place in round three.
Team News
© Imago
Midfielder Will Hughes is a doubt for this clash due to an ankle injury he suffered in the win over Southampton at the end of December.
Fellow midfielder Adam Wharton has been out with a groin injury since the beginning of November and is also expected to miss this clash.
Elsewhere, Matheus Franca remains sidelined with a rib injury that has made kept him out of action for several months.
Meanwhile, on top of losing their top scorer Barry, Stockport have had two further players recalled by their parent clubs in recent days.
Everton loanee Tyler Onyango has returned to Goodison Park following a hamstring injury, while Michael Mellon was recalled by Burnley and subsequently sent on loan to Bradford City after making only four appearances during his loan spell at Edgeley Park.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Turner; Richards, Guehi, Lacroix, Mitchell; Kamada, Lerma, Schlupp, Eze; Nketiah, Mateta
Stockport County possible starting lineup:
Hinchliffe; Mingi, Connolly, Pye, Southam-Hales; Norwood, Bailey, Touray, Collar; Diamond, Wootton
We say: Crystal Palace 3-1 Stockport County
The hosts have certainly struggled for goals this season, but with two divisions between the club, Palace should have enough here to see off Stockport.
We expect the visitors to sorely miss the goals of their former loanee Barry, but we think they will score a consolation goal in a comfortable home win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
