Preview:Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace - prediction, team news, lineups

The third time could be the charm for either Aston Villa or Crystal Palace when the two winless outfits collide in Sunday's Premier League finale at Villa Park.

The Lions and the Eagles have accumulated just three points between them in the 2025-26 campaign thus far, although Oliver Glasner's men have achieved victory on the continent.

Match preview

Winless and goalless in the first two gameweeks of the Premier League season, Aston Villa's 0-0 draw with Newcastle United on the opening weekend could be described as commendable, although their 1-0 defeat to a new-look Brentford side last time out was anything but.

Facing a Bees team ruing the losses of Bryan Mbeumo, Thomas Frank, Christian Norgaard, Mark Flekken and the wantaway Yoane Wissa, the Lions had no answer to Dango Ouattara's 12th-minute opening goal as their pitiful Premier League run continued.

Including their final-day defeat to Manchester United in the 2024-25 season, Villa have now failed to win or find the back of the net in each of their last three Premier League matches, and only once have they ever gone scoreless in their first three games of a league season - back in 1997-98.

Rediscovering their golden touch will be of paramount importance ahead of an intriguing Europa League league phase, as the Lions have been drawn to meet Red Bull Salzburg, Feyenoord, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Fenerbahce, Young Boys, Basel, Bologna and Go Ahead Eagles in Europe's secondary tournament.

Before turning their attention to continental matters, Unai Emery's team have a desirable rather than dismal streak to prolong; the Villans have avoided defeat in each of their last 19 league matches at their Villa Park fortress, the longest current unbeaten home run in the English top flight.

Speaking of unbeaten sequences, Glasner's Crystal Palace are yet to come out second best in any competitive match this season and have now avoided defeat in 13 straight non-friendly games - if including their Community Shield success at Liverpool's expense.

The Eagles have not been excellent entertainment value in the Premier League so far, though, sharing the spoils with both Chelsea and Nottingham Forest in recent weeks - they were denied victory against the latter by a Callum Hudson-Odoi leveller following Ismaila Sarr's opener.

However, Palace did not need to make fireworks fly in midweek to seal their spot in the Conference League league phase - a 0-0 at Fredrikstad sealed a 1-0 aggregate victory in the playoff round - and the likes of AZ Alkmaar and Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg now await in the league phase.

For all of Villa's successes on home soil, Palace's praiseworthy away record adds another layer of intrigue to this battle; the FA Cup holders have lost just two Premier League road games since November 2024, the second-fewest in the league behind Arsenal (1).

That sequence includes a 2-2 stalemate in this exact fixture in the 2024-25 season, shortly before a 4-1 Selhurst Park thumping and 3-0 FA Cup semi-final success for the capital club, who can therefore expect to meet a vengeful Villa on Sunday evening.

Aston Villa Premier League form:

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Team News

Injury was added to insult for Aston Villa against Brentford last week, as the Lions lost French midfielder Boubacar Kamara to a thigh injury inside the first half, although Emery did not rule him out of Sunday's game when speaking in his pre-game press conference.

Reports have claimed that Kamara will be sidelined for at least a fortnight, though, as the former Marseille midfielder joins Ross Barkley (unspecified) and Andres Garcia (unspecified) in the infirmary for the next while.

On a brighter note, Ezri Konsa is back from the ban he served at Brentford following his dismissal against Aston Villa, putting Pau Torres's spot in the side at risk.

As far as Palace are concerned, the Eagles have filled the Eberechi Eze void with the signing of Spanish youngster Yeremy Pino from Villarreal, and the club have confirmed that he is eligible to make his first appearance in the Premier League this weekend.

Chris Richards ought to be fine too despite an ankle concern, but Will Hughes (knock) will need a once-over, while Odsonne Edouard (Achilles), Caleb Kporha (back), Matheus Franca (groin), Eddie Nketiah (thigh), Cheick Doucoure (knee) and Chadi Riad (knee) are still missing.

A perpetual nemesis of the Lions, last weekend's scorer Sarr has directly contributed to a goal in each of six starts against Aston Villa, bagging seven of his own while setting up three more.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; Malen, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Devenny; Mateta

We say: Aston Villa 1-0 Crystal Palace

Not only did Palace have to head abroad in midweek, Glasner had little room to rotate, and the nine players who completed 90 minutes against Fredrikstad will most likely have to go again here.

As a result, a hitherto blunt Villa should find their way through and shut up shop against their fatigued foes to earn Premier League win number one for the season.

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