Saints take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park needing a win to push them up the table and give faith back to a section of their fan base.

Saints go up to South London as favourites to win this game, why ? because last season Palace were a poor team, this season they have barely improved it and they are in turmoil, whereas we are a squad that finished 8th last year, we lost no major players and we have made a couple of significant signings, not to menton that last year saw us without three of our best players for over half the season.

So we should be going up in positive mood looking to get a win that will push us right up the league table and kick start our season.

The issue is scoring goals, but it is not that we don't have the players to score them, but we are not creating the chances to get them in the right positions on enough occasions, that is the key to Mauricio Pellegrino's season.

So for the trip to Crystal Palace it is about back to basics.

Fistly though I do not expect to see Virgil Van Dijk play any part in this game, he is not ready, but the first step is to get him back into the squad and get people used to him being around, not just from his team mates perspective but also the supporters, the sting needs to be taken out of his return and that means doing it gradually, I expect him to travel but I dont think he will make the bench as that would mean having two central defenders on it.

The big question in the back four is Yoshida or Stephens ? I can see why Stephens was given the nod against Watford in that Yoshida had been away and Watford were not a physical side up front, but Palace will be different and look to use Benteke aerial prowess, therefore I expect to see Yoshida partner Wesley Hoedt.

In midfield we need the strong central partnership of Romeu and Lemina, it worked well at Huddersfield, again I see why the manager didn't use it against Watford, but in this game we need to get control of the midfield and keep control and then impose ourselves on the home side.

I would use Redmond and Tadic as the wide men, neither of them have really hit form yet, but then again no one else has and they are better than the other options and proven on their day to create and score chances.

That leaves two key positions, the third central midfielder and up front, the options in my opinion are.

1, Gabbiadini up front, in which case put JWP in front of Romeu & Lemina and tell him to keep laying the ball through the channels for the Italian striker.

2. Austin up front to give physical presence in which case it is about getting the ball down the wing and getting the full backs to overlap, that would mean putting in Steven Davis to tidy up and lay the short ball out wide.

3. Austin up front but play Gabbiadini just behind him, give ourselves a bit more beef in attack.

I would be happy with either of these and perhaps the strength is that whatever we use we have options on the bench, indeed in the last two games Shane Long has created chances by his hassling and running, personally I think that he perhaps deserves to start the game ahead of either Gabbadini or Austin, but I don't think he will.

So as I said back to the basics which have served us so well, keep it tight at the back and in midfield and then use the wide men to attack quickly on the counter and to press the opposition.

We need to play to our strengths rather than try to get too clever about things.

This is becoming a key game because the fans are making it so due to our lack of goals and Palace's new manager, we need to sweep that to one side, take the emotion out of the game and clinically go and do a job and get the home fans on the back of their club for their actions this week.

The squad is stronger than last year, the issue last season was the manager, he is gone, we can now move forward again.

Photo: Action Images

saintpp added 12:53 - Sep 15 Was the manager the issue? Without Austin and VVD and a fixture pile up he didnt do too bad. We have stronger sqaud than last year no european or league cup games so Mp should be able to improve on last year if not he isnt the right manager for us and no improvement on Puel.
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LordDZLucan added 13:00 - Sep 15 If you think the issue last season was the manager and we've now got a stronger manager then the issue this season must be the manager as well! Personally I think Pellegrino has more of a case to answer than Puel. His team selections have been bizarre in the extreme. If we lose on Saturday we are the new Palace so its a time to play our toughest, most experienced players i.e. Long, Austin, Lemina. I have a feeling though that he'll play Boufal, Ward-Prowse et al again. I'm not sure I can bear to watch.

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Keesie66 added 13:00 - Sep 15 Put VVD straight back in if you are referencing Benteke's aerial power.... this is pro football stop treating the players like little kids or prima donnas.. so how much time does VVD need and to do what? He's not played since Jan so has had 9 months to prepare but lets pay the big man £60k per week and gradually mummy cuddle him back into the squad and then a couple of week later the first team.... are you serious??? Enough of a rant... get sorted Saints....

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LordDZLucan added 13:01 - Sep 15 Corrected version! - If you think the issue last season was the manager and we've now got a stronger squad then the issue this season must be the manager as well! Personally I think Pellegrino has more of a case to answer than Puel. His team selections have been bizarre in the extreme. If we lose on Saturday we are the new Palace so its a time to play our toughest, most experienced players i.e. Long, Austin, Lemina. I have a feeling though that he'll play Boufal, Ward-Prowse et al again. I'm not sure I can bear to watch.

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bstokesaint added 13:11 - Sep 15 I can see us needing to score a minimum of 2 goals against Palace, as Benteke is pretty much nailed to score at least 1. On that basis I'd rather take the game to them and try and score early and keep their packed, noisy little ground quiet (reminds me so much of our days at The Dell). Also if we do get in front, none of this shut-up shop nonsense. Personally I'd like to see us play with Long and Gabbi upfront and constantly just get passes in behind them for our pacey players to get on to. Any defence that is short of confidence doesn't want to be under constant pressure. I fear if we go there hoping to absorb the early pressure, play a gazillion sideways and backwards passes and then go for a late 0-1 winner we'll be sucker punched. Worst still, we'll go behind early and then may as well throw in the towel because we're yet to see much fight from our team this season. Would be nice to see some passion.

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patred added 13:16 - Sep 15 I think Stephens will get the nod over Yoshida, purely because he is right footed. Hootd is the No1 choice and he is left footed. Managers usual like a one of each. I can understand Yoshida normally would play against a physical striker. But Benteke, although physical, tends to drift in and out a game, so poses less threat than an 'Andy Carrol' type of striker.
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allsaint54 added 13:24 - Sep 15 Please no more sideways & backwards JWP, Buffoon or couldn't care less Tadic.
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Sanguin added 13:26 - Sep 15 I expect to at least see VVD on the bench, even if it means we have two central defenders there. I agree that it will be Yoshi and Hoedt to start, but I hope we do see the first game of a VVD/Hoedt partnership. Davis is our best player at pressing and winning back possession in the opposition’s half, it’s a toss up between him and JWP on who connects our DM with our attack. I think Lemina should start since his passing and play place him amongst our best players. Romeu had a howler against Watford and while I wouldn’t advocate dropping him, I think a case can be made. Redmond is nailed on and I agree that Tadic should probably start, although his inability to convert chances is frustrating. I think the manager will stick with Gabbi up front, I don’t think he’ll play Gabbi behind Austin or Long since Tadic and Redmond like to drift into central areas. We had a good away record last season, let’s keep it going. COYS!

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steve73 added 14:57 - Sep 15 I'm not his biggest fan but Long really needs to start. It's all been a bit pedestrian so far and his energy can be infectious even if he does dash around like a headless chicken sometimes.
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SanMarco added 17:42 - Sep 15 "the issue last season was the manager, he is gone". He has indeed gone but I think already in five games this season we are seeing that the problems go a lot deeper. Our whole set-up, last season and this, is based on faith in JWP, Boufal, Tadic and Redmond as the players who are going to get us forward creating chances and scoring goals. Puel soon realised that this was optimistic and settled for a pragmatic approach that as the season went on was far better away from home. MP is now learning for himself that faith in these four is problematic. How he attempts to solve these problems is essentially what we are all talking about at the moment and probably will be until January. He can't drop them all. I would like to see him admit that JWP is not the answer to any question worth asking. I would, therefore, go for Davis, Long and Boufal with Gabby up front and Austin in reserve. We ought to be solid enough at the back but I am with bstoke on Benteke getting at least 1. Perhaps away from home we can create a bit more - it couldn't be worse than last week, could it???

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JimmyMeliaPhD added 00:08 - Sep 16 It's like a quadratic equation....The more of the first group you put on the field, as against the fewer of the second group, the more likely you are to never score again. 1) Boufal, Tadic, Redmond, JWP 2) Gabbi, Charlee, Long
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