FA Cup replay – Can Crystal Palace trouble Stoke?
Not even the most blinkered Crystal Palace fans could have envisaged the season they have had so far. As they sit 4th in the Championship with the league’s top scorer on their books who they just so happened to have snatched on a free from bitter rivals Brighton, life seems sweet for those involved at Selhurst Park.
So when the Eagles drew a home tie against Stoke City in the 3rd round of the FA Cup the nation was intrigued whether or not they could mix it with an established Premier League side, and they did. Although they failed to hit the back of Thomas Sorensen’s net, they managed to stop the Potters from scoring and earned a trip to the Britannia Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Stoke are going into the replay without scoring a single goal in their 3 fixtures this year. A 3-0 loss away to Manchester City was followed by the stalemate at Palace and a 4-0 home whipping to Rafa Benitez and his Chelsea side so they will surely come out all guns blazing in this one.
Palace’s shaky league form continues and some are beginning to question whether they are losing their bottle, and their 1-0 loss away at Burnley on Saturday could support that argument.
Whether or not the Championship side progress to the 4th round of the competition or not, manager Ian Holloway will be doing everything in his power to steady their league form.
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