Saints travel to Selhurst Park looking for a victory that will keep them on the tails os Newcastle, whilst the Eagles look to drag themselves clear of the bottom three.

Saints season has stalled again with two successive defeats and they will be looking to avoid a repeat of their form at the start of December where after a great run they lost three on the bounce heralding the start of a dodgy period, indeed not only is there short term form not great with only 8 points from 6 games, but over the longer term 17 points from 17 games is to put it simply relegation form and cant be excused by injuries etc, this is a long term issue being nearly half a season.

For their part Palace are looking to drag themselves clear of the drop zone, dangling tto close to comfort from the bottom 3, being only 3 points ahead of Sunderland who have a game in hand. They know that if they lose to Saints and results go against them they could find themselves in big trouble again, they wont go back into the bottom 3 as Sunderland arent playing, but the gap will appear a lot smaller if the Mackems have two games in hand, not to mention that Cardiff are at home to Fulham so someone is going to pick up points there.

However this situation could work for or against Palace, seeing Saints in a similar position several times in the past, sometimes it gives you the impetus that lets you launch a run to take you clear of the dogfight quickly, but it can also work against you in that with a bit of daylight being in site it can lead to nerves that later in the season can often be negated by sheer determination to drag you clear, it will be interesting to see what side comes out for Palace on Saturday.

Either way they are the in form side of the pair on Saturday, in their last 6 games they have hit 10 points with 3 wins and a draw, their only defeats coming away to Arsenal and at home to Manchester United, even in the longer term comparing to Saints last 17 games, the Eagles have 22 points compared to our 17, this highlights that Saints good form in the Autumn has glossed over what has been a poor set of results.

Saints though still have a lot to play for, their is still the matter of chasing down Newcastle, but for many of our players their is the opportunity of International glory so if that is not an incentive I dont know what is.

Again key will be the team selection and the use of substitutes, the first thought is that Pochettino will pick the same side he usually does with the only question mark being whether he plays Wanyama instead of Cork for a bit of extra strength in midfield.

But perhaps the manager will show a little bit of imagination and try to freshen up a side that has looked jaded, one option would be to drop Lambert and push Rodriguez up front that would enable us to bring back James Ward Prowse to play on the left and negate the threat on the wing of Jason Puncheon, certainly this would make sense in that not only would this give us defensive cover, but it would also offer attacking options, JWP being the fifth player in the list of crosses in the Premier League according to the EA Sports stats published on the site yesterday.

But perhaps more importantly it offers something different, we look a tired side of late, do the same things and we will get the same results, we need to see it freshened up a bit, I know some won't agree, but if you look at the performances of late, sentimentality aside, Rickie is the man that not only needs the rest, but when compared to his team mates deserves it.

Saints can win at Crystal Palace as they can every game they play, but it needs more than just putting out the same side every week, getting them to do the same thing and then being surprised when we get the same result, you would hope that as the past has shown, this is a side good enough to beat the sides in the bottom third of the table, if not the top half.

It should be noted that if they win Palace will hit the 30 point mark and will only be 9 points behind us, if they win that makes it 17 points from 18 games compared to their 25, I would be seriously worried that on that form they could catch us come the end of the season, but lets be positive, we can bully sides of Palace's position as we proved at Cardiff, Fulham and Hull, if you take out those three wins we would be in deep trouble looking over our shoulders, that shows how close this years league is.

Photo: Action Images

SaintlyTim added 20:35 - Mar 7 Spot on Nick with the team selection for tomorrow. Please tell MoPo. I'm a bit worried about Luke having seen him bent over a couple of times with his hands on his knees at Wembley.
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