Crystal Palace host West Bromwich Albion at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon as they look to begin the new Premier League season with a home win.
The Eagles found points difficult to come by in front of their own supporters last season but the same could be said of the Baggies on the road, who managed just four wins and 14 goals.
Crystal Palace
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When Crystal Palace spent the first half of last season challenging for a top-eight position, there was real belief that the club were ready to make the step up to the next level, but after the turn of the year, normality returned to the Londoners.
A winless streak stretching 14 games left manager Alan Pardew clinging to his job and it was only the club's run to the FA Cup final that ensured that he remained in the dugout until the end of the season.
After remaining through that troublesome period and the club's takeover, Pardew is aware that he must start to deliver having been provided with the funds to sign the likes of Andros Townsend, James Tomkins and Steve Mandanda.
Palace may still have to deal with the departure of star winger Yannick Bolasie, should reports be believed, but the acquisition of Townsend is a real coup for the club after he rediscovered his form at Newcastle United during the back end of last season.
The club have never finished higher than 10th place in the Premier League but in-house, Pardew will be telling his squad that they are capable of repeating that achievement from two years ago, and it is a realistic target if two of three more players arrive with the funds generated from the sale of Bolasie.
A striker will be the top of the agenda for Pardew but if he can bring in a player who can score 15 goals in the Premier League, Palace can potentially edge past their mid-table rivals and achieve a top-half finish this season.
Recent form: WWLWWW
West Bromwich Albion
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West Brom head coach Tony Pulis spent last season on the receiving end of criticism regarding the club's performances in the final third and after only scoring more goals than beleaguered Aston Villa, the concern of the supporters can be justified.
However, for the sixth successive season, the Baggies secured Premier League survival with just one point fewer than the previous campaign, and with a successful takeover of the club having just been completed, the foundations are there for Pulis to take the team to the next level.
The only new arrival at The Hawthorns has been winger Matt Phillips and he should add another dimension to West Brom on either flank, but Pulis has acknowledged that they need to press on with more signings before the end of the transfer window.
Pulis's immediate concern will be the trip to his former club, but he knows that the West Midlands outfit face a battle to avoid relegation should the right transfers not be made.
Like last year, the biggest transfer saga of the summer has involved Saido Berahino and it seems only a matter of time before he leaves for Stoke City, but Pulis has insisted that the young attacker is getting back to his best form and it will be interesting to see whether he is selected this weekend.
West Brom have been given a kind start to the season, with the team scheduled to face none of last season's top six until October 15, but such a period has arguably come at the wrong time and their fate at the end of the campaign could come down to how they deal with their opening half-a-dozen fixtures.
Recent form: LWWDLL
Team News
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Pardew told the media on Thursday afternoon that he was keeping his team news to himself until Saturday but he suggested that players who featured in the latter stages of Euro 2016 are behind the rest of the squad.
Wayne Hennessey, Joe Ledley, Jonny Williams and Yohan Cabaye all reached the last four in France.
The Baggies are stretched at the back with James Chester having completed a transfer to Aston Villa on Friday afternoon.
The rest of the team picks itself, however, with Berahino likely to remain on the bench.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Hennessey, Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare, Ledley, Cabaye, Puncheon, Townsend, Zaha, Wickham
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Foster; Dawson, McAuley, Evans, Olsson; Yacob; Phillips, Fletcher, Morrison, McClean; Rondon
Head To Head
Saturday's game represents the 54th time that the two teams have met in a competitive fixture, with West Brom winning 23 times in comparison to 16 victories achieved by Palace.
Since Palace returned to the Premier League in 2013, there has been a mixture of results with neither side being able to string more than two successive wins together against the other.
As far as games at Selhurst Park are concerned, Palace have won twice with the other game ending in a 2-0 win over West Brom in April 2015.
We say: Crystal Palace 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
Both clubs would have been hoping for a winnable opener and that is what they have got. However, backed by a home crowd full of optimism after several high-profile signings, we expect Palace to sneak this one, potentially in the closing stages.
Darren Plant
