3. Midfield Trio
Another enduring feature of Palace's season has been the consistency in selection of Yohan Cabaye, James McArthur and Jason Puncheon as the midfield trio, with all three starting every game this season together bar one, when McArthur came off the bench in the win against Watford. As with the defence, there has been real progression in the performances from these three. On Saturday they managed to dominate the midfield for long periods of the first half where, in previous games in previous seasons, Palace have been passed off the park by teams like Southampton - preferring to concede the midfield in favour of sitting deep and springing out from there.