Having both been condemned to painful midweek Premier League defeats, underperforming London rivals Crystal Palace and Brentford can end 2023 on a positive note when they clash at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Roy Hodgson's men were undone by an 89th-minute penalty in a 2-1 loss to Chelsea on Wednesday, while the plight of the Bees continued in a horrendous 4-1 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Match preview
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Only a couple of weeks ago, Roy Hodgson was left most amused when his Crystal Palace side were awarded a last-gasp penalty against Manchester City, but the shoe was on the other foot for the Eagles head coach during Wednesday's all-London affair with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Palace were on course for a hard-earned point thanks to Michael Olise cancelling out an early Mykhaylo Mudryk effort, but after Michael Salisbury waved away appeals for a spot kick and Palace failed to make the most of a four-on-two counter-attack, play was brought back for Eberechi Eze's challenge on Noni Madueke.
The latter calmly stroked home from 12 yards to propel Chelsea to victory, and while the evidence appeared rather clear-cut upon review, it did not stop an incandescent Hodgson from launching into a post-match tirade about technology, as has been the case up and down the country this term.
Now winless in eight successive Premier League matches, the Eagles are dancing with the devil in 15th place in the table - only three points clear of 18th-placed Luton Town having played a game more - and only time will tell whether Hodgson is still seen as the right man to lead Palace forward while Steve Cooper is still looking for work.
One small positive from Wednesday's defeat was that Olise's sublime finish saw Palace score for the ninth time in 10 Premier League matches, but just eight of their 19 goals this season have come at home, where only Burnley have amassed fewer than their six points thus far.
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A penny for Nathan Collins's thoughts as he trudged off the field on Wednesday night, where the Brentford defender produced a one-man horror show to assist Wolves on their way to a Gtech Community Stadium slaughter, which began when Mario Lemina headed home his second goal in as many games.
Straight from kickoff, Collins's under-hit backpass gifted Hwang Hee-chan gifted Gary O'Neil's side their second before Yoane Wissa made things interesting, but Hwang's 10th strike of the season restored Wolves' two-goal advantage before another Collins blunder ended with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde putting the game to bed.
Collins's misery was compounded when he spurned a gilt-edged header at the other end of the field, although he was nevertheless offered a reassuring pat on the shoulder by Thomas Frank, who claimed that the Irish centre-back would never produce a worse performance for the remainder of his playing days.
However, Frank's upbeat admission may not provide much solace for the off-colour Bees, whose loss to Wolves marked their fourth Premier League defeat on the bounce, leaving them 14th in the table with just a one-point lead over Palace, and the dreaded dotted line is now coming into view for the visitors.
In fact, six of Brentford's last seven Premier League games have ended in defeat - the outlier being a 3-1 home success over Luton Town - but there has never been a victor in five previous top-flight games between the Bees and Palace, who played out their third successive 1-1 draw in August.
Team News
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A sextet of Palace players could miss the visit of Brentford through injury, including Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), Joel Ward (thigh) and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (thigh), all of whom are long-term absentees.
Sam Johnstone's calf concern will not settle down in time for the derby either, and Rob Holding's ankle concern is still giving him grief, but Odsonne Edouard (knee) will be assessed and could force his way back in.
Hodgson will likely see no reason to alter his Eagles' XI from a tactical point of view, but should fatigue come into play, Jeffrey Schlupp and Matheus Franca should be the first port of call as far as any changes are concerned.
Brentford's recent troubles can also be attributed to their lengthy list of fitness concerns, as all of Rico Henry (knee), Kevin Schade (adductor), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Bryan Mbeumo (ankle), Kristoffer Ajer (foot) and Josh Dasilva (hamstring) are being looked after by the physios, while Shandon Baptiste (foot) is touch-and-go.
Ivan Toney and Ben Mee - who was dismissed in his side's loss to Aston Villa on December 17 - will also miss the visitors' final fixture of 2023 through suspension, but Frank Onyeka is at Frank's disposal once more, having sat out the Wolves crushing owing to yellow card accumulation.
Onyeka, Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard will all throw their hat into the ring for starting roles after Wednesday's abysmal display, but one can be sure that a disconsolate Collins will retain his place in the backline.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Lerma, Richards; Olise, Franca, Ayew; Mateta
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Mee, Ghoddos; Janelt, Norgaard, Jensen; Wissa, Maupay, Damsgaard
We say: Crystal Palace 1-1 Brentford
No other fixture in Premier League history has seen the first five showdowns end level, and yet another stalemate is not beyond the realm of possibility for two sides who have a penchant for sharing the points with each other.
Neither set of players are high on morale right now, and even though Palace can be considered marginal favourites given Brentford's losing streak and injury crisis, the Bees should stop the rot in its tracks thanks to the hosts' offensive troubles at Selhurst Park.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
