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• Palace at 'top of their game' could compete with anyone, says Richards

  Chris Richards says Crystal Palace could compete with anyone when they are at the "top of their game" ahead of their trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League.

  Palace have won just once in the league this season, a 1-0 home victory against Tottenham, and are yet to win on the road in the English top-flight, drawing two and losing three. However, they did beat the Villans 2-1 at Villa Park in the EFL Cup round of 16 at the end of October.

  Richards acknowledged Palace's poor start to the campaign but remains confident in their ability to go toe-to-toe against anyone they face.

  "[Oliver Glasner] told us from the jump that there was no reason we shouldn't be in a higher spot in the table, no reason why we should lose to any team," Richards told the club's in-house media.

  "We could play a team winning the league – even when we played Manchester City, we were winning.

  "City are City, and we lost the game, but it shows that while we were at the top of our game, we could play with any team in the league."

  Meanwhile, after an impressive start to the season, Villa faltered slightly before the international break, going on a five-match winless run in all competitions, and losing the last three.

  Morgan Rogers, who recently signed a new long-term extension with the club, has been a bright spark for Villa this term, netting three goals and registering two assists in the league, and he believes his form is helped by the faith shown in him by Unai Emery.

  "I think any player would say that trust from a manager is the most important thing, and he gave me that from day one," he said.

  "He threw me in the deep end when people were injured last season and gave me a chance to shine and develop and to become the person I am now.

  "He's the perfect person for me. He demands and pushes me every day, and so do the players. I've got players around me that push me every day to improve and get better."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Aston Villa – Emiliano Martinez

  Emiliano Martinez has the fourth-lowest save percentage in the Premier League this season (60.5%, minimum two games).

  Only Alphonse Areola (-3.6) and Jose Sa (-2.9) have conceded more goals than expected according to Opta's expected goals on target (xGoT) model than the current Yashin Trophy holder (-2.2).

  Crystal Palace – Jean-Philippe Mateta

  Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored more Premier League goals (four) and recorded his joint-most assists (two) in the competition against Aston Villa than any other opponent.

  The Frenchman was directly involved in four of the Eagles' five goals in their 5-0 win over the Villans on the final day of last season (three goals, one assist).  

  MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN

  Villa have lost just one of their 12 Premier League home games against Palace (W7 D4), never conceding more than once in any of these 12 meetings (six goals conceded in total).

  The away side has won just three of the 24 Premier League meetings between Villa and Palace (D6 L15), with the Eagles' only victory at Villa Park coming in December 2013 (1-0).

  However, Villa have lost both of their last two Premier League games and could lose three in a row in the competition for just the second time under manager Unai Emery, also doing so in February 2023.  

  Meanwhile, Palace have registered just seven points from their opening 11 league games this season (W1 D4 L6), only picking up fewer points at this stage of a Premier League campaign in 2013-14 (four) and 2017-18 (four).

  A repeat of their last meeting would be a welcome sight for Oliver Glasner though. Following their 5-0 win against Villa on the final day of last season's Premier League, Palace are looking to win consecutive league meetings with the Villans for the first time since a run of three between 2005 and 2014.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Aston Villa – 57.2%

  Draw – 22.3%

  Crystal Palace – 20.5%

• Inzaghi believes Inter deserved win after dominant second half

  Simone Inzaghi was proud of Inter's second-half performance but believes they should have come away with all three points from their 1-1 draw with Napoli. 

  Hakan Calhanoglu scored with a stunning strike to cancel out Scott McTominay's opener for Napoli, but missed a penalty for the first time in eight years.

  He had previously never missed a penalty in Serie A, netting 17 in a row before Sunday.

  "I congratulated the team, if there was one side that should've won, then it was Inter. The second half was dominated by us," Inzaghi told DAZN.

  "We went behind on a set play situation where we should've done better, but we kept our heads and did not allow Napoli practically anything.

  "We hit the woodwork twice, missed a penalty, so I don’t know what more we could've done."

  While Inter dominated the second half, the strike duo of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram were largely kept quiet.

  Martinez managed just two shots, worth 0.24 expected goals (xG), hitting the target with neither, while Thuram did not manage a single attempt, though Inzaghi was still impressed by their displays.

  "They worked hard for the team and kept us solid," Inzaghi said.

  "As a coach, I have to leave the result aside and focus on the performance, which was excellent against a quality opponent."

  With nearly a third of the Serie A season completed, the title race is shaping up to be tight with Napoli leading the way on 26 points. Atalanta, Fiorentina, Inter and Lazio, meanwhile, are all on 25.

  "I said this would be a very balanced campaign and that is proving to be true, but I saw a wonderful Inter tonight," Inzaghi said.

  "We could probably have made more of our chances, but let us not forget the strength of the side we were facing." 

• Emery demands improvement from Aston Villa

  Unai Emery urged his side to “keep improving” after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield.

  Aston Villa have now lost four successive games in all competitions for the first time since April 2022.

  They have also lost consecutive league matches for the first time since May 2023, after breakaway goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah sent Arne Slot's team five points clear at the top of the standings.

  Emery was pragmatic in defeat but insisted his side need to up their game if they are to match the levels they set last season.

  "We have to keep improving, recover some players who have just come back after long injuries. Some players are not in the same performance level as last year but today they were a bit better," he told TNT Sports.

  "This year a lot of players have come back from long injuries. We have to try to keep the same positive attitude and mentality and try to accept the results that we have had this week.

  "The league is tight, there are a lot of teams performing very well and we have to accept that we need to improve. We are under our level from last year a little bit but I am still confident."

  Villa have recently seen the return of Tyrone Mings from a long-term injury, but there was further concern for Emery when Jacob Ramsey sustained an apparent hamstring issue late in the first half.

  The Villans did have their chances at Anfield, with Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos forcing good saves out of Caoimhin Kelleher.

  Indeed, Villa posted 1.5 expected goals (xG), compared to Liverpool's 2.02.

  "Liverpool dominated at times but they did not have a lot of clear chances to score," reflected Emery.

  "We did our work and we had the chances to score in the first half, in the second half, and we played more or less in the way I wanted."

  Villa took 12 shots during the match, only two less than Liverpool (14), with an equal number coming from inside the box (nine each).

  They also had shouts for a penalty prior to Liverpool's second goal when Pau Torres went down after he had his shirt pulled in the box, but their appeals were waved away.

  "We have to try to be consistent in how we are building and responding. We have to compete and build a team, but we played the match we planned," Emery said, as reported by the Premier League's official website.
  
  "We had chances to score, we had one penalty, maybe a potential penalty, for me, it's clear. With VAR, it was not but I have to accept the decision."

  Emery also feels Villa lost to a team that are clear title contenders.

  "They started better than us, they are contenders to win the title, but I think you have to try to get our way, and we are in this process," he said. "I am positive."