Zaha’s return offers hope Palace pain will soon end

By the time Chelsea have vacated Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace could be oh-and-eight for the season, or woe-and-eight. Only Manchester United in 1931 would have posted a longer losing streak in the top division. But that ancient record of 12 defeats in a row is unlikely to fall to Roy Hodgson’s team.

Palace’s quest for a goal and a point has acquired a grim fascination far beyond South London. Hodgson must ust feel he is stuck in another version of the England Iceland game in Nice: a calamity that acquiress its own mortifying force. . Yet all is not lost. Therere are three reasons for hope: the impending return of Wilfried Zaha ha (right), Hodgson’s history of improving defensive structures at this level, and the end d of the brutal run of fixtures dumped on Hodgson by the timing of Frank de Boer’ser’s sacking.

Palace have been trounced 5-0 by Manchester City and traduced 4-0 by Manchester chester United. Chelsea will aim to match those thrashings. gs.

Then things turn easier. asier. Palace face Newcastlee away, West Ham (home), and d Spurs (away) before home fixtures against Everton and Stoke and a trip to Brighton for the “A23 derby”. By the end of November, they should have points on the board. Even now, with both hands empty, they are only five points shy of the non-relegation places. The number crunchers already have them in the Championship for 2018-19. A firm of analysts called Gracenote give Palace a 72 per cent chance of going down, and they are 1-2 with bookmakers to sink in May. An ominous detail is that t the current losing run is l largely a continuation of last season’s f form. Palace h have won on only one o of thei their past 12 lea league ga games –a– a 4-0 vic victory ov over Against Hull. that bac backdrop, survival is a slim hope, until you fact factor in how much hard harder they will be to scor score against if they stop attac attackers running behind their full-backs, and resto restore Zaha’s runs throug through opposition defences. The winger has not played sin since the 3-0 defeat against Huddersfield on Aug 12 but was back in training this week with a ball at his feet.

The human factor should not be underestimated. If Zaha sees saving his boyhood club as a personal mission, the spark could ignite the team and alleviate the fatalism of supporters. Too reductionist? Not if Hodgson can also revive Christian Benteke, who has three yellow cards but no goals in six appearances – and cure Palace’s vulnerability in wide defensive areas, where Joel Ward, Timothy Fosu-mensah and Patrick van Aanholt are too easily circumvented. Palace have been marmalised by Manchester’s big two but have lost three or their seven games 1-0, so their defence is not beyond saving. And Alvaro Morata’s absence at Selhurst Park removes Chelsea’s main goalscoring threat. With eight straight defeats, Palace would match the Liverpool side of 1900. They already share a top-flight shelf (seven losses) with Bolton (1903) and Portsmouth (2010).

There is no reason, of course, to wait until after the Chelsea game to begin the fightback. With Zaha returning, and Morata and N’golo Kante injured, 65 days into the season would be a good place to start.