Crystal Palace vs Everton - 5 Key Battles

If Crystal Palace are two remain in the Premier League, it will be critical for the Eagles to start picking up wins soon otherwise they will find themselves falling too far behind the rest of the pack. After what was a battling performance against Arsenal, albeit to a 2-0 loss, stand-in manager Keith Millen will be disappointed his team did not build on that performance and get a result against West Brom, again losing 2-0 on this occasion. This leaves the South London outfit rock bottom of the table, losing 10 out of 11 games in all competitions - including an embarrassing 2-1 lose to League 1 side Bristol Rovers and their only victory a 3-1 triumph over fellow strugglers Sunderland - where both of those teams proving that revolution to a squad can be quite destructive. And the loss of Algerian Adlène Guedioura will not do anything to boost morale at Selhurst Park and with the crowd becoming frustrated at a lack of results - Palace will have to deliver soon. As for Everton it is important to negotiate a potential trip-hazard it their race to achieve a place in Europe - in which looks to be a highly contested battle so far. Last week's 0-0 draw with Spurs will be a satisfactory result for Roberto Martínez as his team continue to consistently pick up points at a steady rate - a 3-1 loss at the Eithad the only blotch on Everton's record this season. A lot of credit has to go to Martínez who has recognised Everton's weakness up front - bringing in Romelu Lukaku to lead the line for the season which has been widely accepted as one of the best pieces of transfer business in the summer, and also bringing in Gareth Barry and James McCarthy who's partnership has already faded memories of Marouane Fellaini. You would expect Everton to take all 3 points back to Goodison Park Saturday, although if Palace manage to repeat the heart of their performance versus Arsenal an impressive point a least could be their reward.