Crystal Palace (H) | Match Preview
The Game
Argyle v Crystal Palace. Home Park. Tuesday, 29 August. 7.45pm. Carabao Cup second round.
The Opposition
Crystal Palace have started their Premier League season with a mixed bag of results. They opened with a 1-0 victory at top-flight new boys Sheffield United, then followed up with a defeat by the same scoreline at home to Arsenal. Most recently, on Saturday, they drew 1-1 with Brentford.
The Gaffer
One of the most experienced managers in world football will be in the opposition dugout for this game. Roy Hodgson began his managerial career in 1976 at Swedish club Halmstads, and for nearly five decades has managed teams all over the world.
Most notably, he was the England manager from 2012 to 2016, and has also had time in charge of the national teams of Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Finland. In club football, he has managed Liverpool, Inter Milan, Blackburn Rovers and Fulham among many, many others.
He was the manager of Crystal Palace from 2017 to 2021, before choosing to step away. He was briefly in charge of Watford in the Premier League, and appeared to have retire from management, but at the age of 75, returned to Palace in March, after the Eagles sacked Patrick Vieira.
He presided over a strong, hugely-improved end to Palace's season, and despite originally signing up for the rest of the 2022/23 season, opted to stay on into the new Premier League campaign.
The Squad
It is difficult to know what sort of team Crystal Palace will field at Home Park. In their three fixtures so far, all in the Premier League, they have sent out the same first 11, so they may see this as a good opportunity to rotate. If they do, the likes of experienced defenders Nathanial Clyne and James Tomkins could get a run out, as could Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who had a brilliant season on loan with for Charlton Athletic last season.
If Palace rotate their goalkeeper, it could mean a game for second-choice keeper Remi Matthews, who played 27 games while on loan at Argyle in the 2017/18 season.
Hodgson said, ahead of the game: “It’s the usual balancing act: we don’t want to send a reserve team down there and get beaten by a very good Plymouth side, because we know how good they are. If we’re going to get a result down there then we’re going to have to play a good team.
“It’ll presumably be some sort of balancing act where we don’t jettison anyone we think is a first-team player from the last three games just to give [a chance to] someone who hasn’t had a kick of a ball yet – you’ll have to deserve it.
Fancy a Stat?
Only two of the 12 games played between the two sides this century have been won by more than one goal - yet, of those dozen games, only one has been a draw.
The History
Argyle and Crystal Palace first met in 1906, and have met 70 times over the years.
They have met before in this competition, in 2002, when Palace won 2-1 after extra-time, thanks to an Andy Johnson goal. Blair Sturrock scored that day for Argyle.
Between 2005 and 2010, Argyle and Palace were both in the Championship together, but have not met since then, other a game against Palace's Under-21s in last season's EFL Trophy, which Argyle won 1-0.
The Rules
If the scores are level after 90 minutes, the game will go straight to a penalty shoot-out.
Argyle TV
Argyle TV’s pre-match show, hosted by Erin Black and Aaron Cusack, will begin at 6.45pm, and is available to watch for free on YouTube.
Because of competition rules, we are only able to provide audio commentary for the game. Charlie Price and former Argyle and Palace defender Marc Edworthy will be your commentators. You can buy a pass here.
