On Saturday afternoon, Crystal Palace will host Southampton, a team from the Premier League, at Selhurst Park in an FA Cup matchup with a place in the fourth round on the line for both teams.
On the same night that Southampton lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, the home team lost 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
After being defeated by Spurs, Palace manager Patrick Vieira will undoubtedly be seeking a response from his team on Saturday afternoon.
On Tuesday, the Eagles may have had the upper hand in the first half of play, but their rivals went on to score four consecutive goals in the second half.
The outcome placed the capital team in 12th place in the Premier League standings with 22 points after their first 17 games, which is a respectable showing.
This season, Palace is focusing more on the Premier League than the FA Cup.
However, they have made it to two FA Cup finals, including the one in 2015–16 when they lost to Manchester United 2-1 at Wembley Stadium.
The Eagles only have two more league games left before the month is out; they will go to Chelsea before hosting Newcastle United, and they will visit Manchester United to begin the challenging month of February.
Palace has defeated Southampton in both of its most recent meetings, including a 1-0 victory in the Premier League at Selhurst Park in October. Since January 2020, the Eagles have not suffered a defeat to the Saints in front of their own fans.
Although Nathan Jones, 49, was surely aware of the magnitude of the challenge he was taking on at Southampton, he definitely wanted to get off to a better start.
Jones has, in fact, lost each of his four league games as manager, including a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at home on Tuesday night that left the Saints dead last in the standings with 12 points.
With a lot of football still to play this season, Southampton's situation is not nearly panic-inducing given they are just three points below West Ham United in 17th place. Nevertheless, the Saints lack confidence.
Even though they are still in the EFL Cup and will play Manchester City in the quarterfinals of that tournament next week, the cup tournaments may be a nice break from the league.
Southampton has finished second in the FA Cup three times, notably in 2002-03. They also won the title in 1975–76, defeating Manchester United in the championship game by a score of 1-0.
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