Palace hope to maintain unbeaten run

The Eagles remain bottom, 11 points behind their opponents, despite collecting seven points from their last five unbeaten games – with their last defeat coming in the 1-0 loss at Tottenham on November 5.

Roy Hodgson has some injury issues though to contend with, as Mamadou Sakho is the latest player to be add to the list of Palace absentees. The Frenchman suffered a calf problem in the draw with Bournemouth and Hodgson fears he will be sidelined for a ‘long time’.

The Eagles will also hand a late fitness test to Yohan Cabaye, who suffered a muscle strain on Saturday, while Joel Ward is still missing with a groin injury.

As for Watford, they have not won any of their last three games and are also having to deal with a lengthy injury list. Marco Silva could be without as many as nine players for the trip to Selhurst Park.

Among those missing are Isaac Success, Will Hughes, Nathaniel Chalobah and Younes Kaboul, while defender Marvin Zeegelaar is suspended following his sending off at Burnley on Saturday.

Kiko Femenia is set to have a late test on a muscle strain, while the Hornets might not risk Miguel Britos ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Huddersfield.

The head-to-head stats certainly favour the home team, with Palace losing just one of their last seven meetings – with the Eagles winning this fixture 1-0 last term thanks to an own goal from Troy Deeney.