Crystal Palace get their 2023-24 EFL Cup campaign underway when they journey to Home Park to square off against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday.
Since their first-round victory over Leyton Orient, the Championship side have struggled to grind out results and will head into this one looking to return to winning ways.
Match preview
Plymouth Argyle were left spitting feathers in Saturday’s Championship clash against Birmingham City as they fell to a 2-1 loss when the sides met at the St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium.
Ryan Hardie scored for the second straight game to cancel out Scott Hogan’s early opener, but substitute Jay Stansfield came up clutch for the Blues as he netted in the 95th minute to hand them a fourth straight win across all competitions.
Since kicking off the 2023-24 Championship campaign with a resounding 3-1 victory over Huddersfield Town on August 5, Steven Schumacher‘s men have now failed to win each of their subsequent three matches, losing twice and claiming one draw.
Plymouth Argyle now turn their attention to the EFL Cup, where they cruised through the first round courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Leyton Orient at Home Park on August 8.
New Zealand international Ben Waine turned in a performance of the highest quality in that tie as he netted a first-half brace to condemn the League One side to an early exit.
Crystal Palace, on the other hand, head into Tuesday’s cup curtain-raiser off the back of a decent start to the new top-flight campaign, having picked up four points from their opening three matches.
A second-half strike from Odsonne Edouard gave the Eagles a 1-0 victory over newly-promoted Sheffield United in the Premier League opener on August 12, nine days before suffering a 1-0 loss to Arsenal in their first home game of the season.
Roy Hodgson‘s men responded to their defeat to the Gunners with a resilient team display at the Brentford Community Stadium on Saturday as they came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Brentford.
Kevin Schade netted inside the opening 20 minutes to put the hosts in front but Danish centre-back Joachim Andersen restored parity from close range in the 76th minute to force a share of the spoils.
Crystal Palace will now look to build on that result as they kick off their cup quest against an opposing side who have failed to win any of their last three meetings, losing twice and claiming one draw since a 2-1 victory in September 2008.
Team News
Plymouth Argyle will take to the pitch without the English duo of goalkeeper Michael Cooper and defender Macaulay Gillesphey, who have been ruled out through injury.
Brendan Galloway has been out of action since coming off injured in April’s victory over Shrewsbury Town and the 27-year-old is also out of contention for Tuesday’s tie.
Crystal Palace will have to cope without highly-rated forward Michael Olise, who continues his spell on the sidelines through a hamstring injury.
Olise, who recently squashed speculation over his future by putting pen to paper on a four-year contract, came off injured while in action for France against Norway in the Under-21 European Championship back in June.
He is joined on the club’s injury table by Nathan Ferguson while experienced midfielder Will Hughes has been ruled out since picking up a thigh problem in pre-season.
Matheus Franca is yet to feature for Palace since joining from Flamengo due to a slight injury and the teenage forward remains a major doubt for the Eagles.
Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Edwards, Scarr, Gibson, Earley; Wright, Houghton, Randell; Whittaker, Hardie, Mumba
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Lerma, Doucoure; Ayew, Eze, Schlupp; Edouard
We say: Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Crystal Palace
While Plymouth will be looking to pick up where they dropped off in the first round, they face the daunting challenge of a well-drilled Crystal Palace side who have been solid this season. Hodgson’s side boast the firepower needed to get the job done and we predict that they will build on the positives from Saturday’s draw.
