Thursday night sees Crystal Palace take on Brighton and Hove Albion in a Premier League clash that could have far reaching consequences for the Eagles.
Should the Seagulls win the so-called M23 derby and both Everton and Nottingham Forest win their matches against Tottenham and Bournemouth respectively, Palace will head into Christmas joint fourth from bottom.
That will surely see owner, Steve Parish, pressed into a decision he’d prefer not to make and that would be to relieve Hodgson of his duties.
The former England manager came in during Palace’s hour of need when they couldn’t buy a win under Patrick Vieira, and he quickly got a tune out of the side and steered them up the table.
However, in 2023/24, the south Londoners have been on the slide, and against Roberto De Zerbi’s side, they’ll certainly have their work cut out.
Our XI for #CRYBHA ?#CPFC | @shophumm
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 21, 2023
Hodgson has picked as strong a side as possible and Palace will line up like this:
Henderson
Clyne – Andersen – Guehi – Mitchell
Lerma – Richards – Hughes
Olise – Mateta – Ayew
TEAM NEWS! ? Here's tonight starting XI to face @CPFC in the @PremierLeague. ?
? https://t.co/S3j1TIedJv // #BHAFC ??? pic.twitter.com/sBd9s1P8tz
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) December 21, 2023
De Zerbi has gone for an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation for the fixture:
Verbruggen
Hinshelwood – van Hecke – Dunk – Igor
Quomah Baleba – Gilmour
Adingra – Gross – Mitoma
Pedro
It promises to be a fantastic spectacle between two attacking teams, who might find the extremely strong winds to be either a help or a hindrance.