i suspect you are correct. Certainly won't be wholesale changes

I think you're probably right, but I wonder. This is a big test for Vieira; arguably his biggest test as a manager so far this season. The two games we'd lost previously, Chelsea and Liverpool away, were not realistically games we expected to get anything from so no reaction to the results was mandated. We've had a few draws where might have expected wins but those have not been overtly poor results; we've picked up points consistently.

Saturday, on the other hand, was probably the first match this season that yielded an outright disappointing performance AND negative result so it's the first time we'll get to see how Vieira reacts to failure. And he was pretty blunt in his post-match analysis on Saturday about our shortcomings.

With all that in mind, there's an argument that if he was ever going to shake things up a bit (and in a way, he did that already by hooking Wilf on Saturday which if nothing else made the point that he's not afraid to act when we're playing sub-par), tomorrow is the game where he might just make some wholesale changes. It's away, Leeds are a decent team out-of-form, so it's about as low-risk a time to do it as you're going to get.

By and large, he's stuck with the same 14/15 players throughout the season so I just wonder if some of those on the fringes won't get an opportunity tomorrow night. Of course, he could go in the opposite direction and give the regulars the opportunity to redeem themselves tomorrow night but I have a sneaking feeling, nothing more, that he might just lay down a marker and change things more than we expect. One things for sure; to me this will be his most interesting team selection of the season so far and possibly his first real "moment" to make a point to the squad about what sort of manager he is in terms of his expectations from them.

If he does go down the "wholesale changes" route, I'd expect: Eze will not start because he's still some way from full fitness. Hughes and Schlupp are the two I'd expect to get opportunities and possibly Olise coming into the middle with Schlupp out wide. That would give us Wilf-Hughes or Olise-Gallagher-Schlupp across the middle. Up front, I think Edouard will get a start. 50/50 whether he's partnered with Benteke or Ayew but I suspect Ayew as Leeds are a demanding team physically and little needs to be said about Ayew's willingness to run with them versus Benteke's plus Benteke is a useful option off the bench if needed later in the game where Ayew really isn't. So my guess would be Edouard and Ayew up front.

I also think it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that Wilf finds himself starting this game on the bench although I wouldn't bet on that happening.

The issue with Butland for Guaita is that I don't think you really do that unless you think Butland is simply ready to take over the shirt full-time because there's no mileage in putting him in there, pissing Guaita off, and finding out he's not good enough for the role. However, if Vieira rates Butland highly and with Guaita out of contract and possibly off in the summer (or even getting some money for him in January rather than letting him go for free in May), if we do rate Butland highly then there's an argument that now would be time to put him in. Again, there are aspects of this decision that we as fans will never see. If the club are aware (and they would be aware of it) that there's real interest from Spain in Guaita and they know the player's interested in going home after this season then that may well encourage us to cash in on him in January and put Butland in the side now. That is just speculation but it's probably in part how these decisions are made.

Edited by sydtheeagle (29 Nov 2021 9.07pm)

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

Delighted that people have now acknowledged how s***e Luka is. Fingers crossed PV sees the same and he never pulls on the shirt again.

100% time for Hughes and Edouard to start. Would love to see Banks get a chance off the bench ahead of someone like Ayew.

I don't want to see the Luka/Kouyate pairing again this season. The problem is, Schlupp and Reidewald are not quality enough to be starters. Schlupp has one good run per game, then is invisible the rest of the time. Riedewald runs around a lot, but can't pass or maintain possession.

I'd honestly like to see Hughes in midfield, or Eze, but I have a feeling that Eze isn't going to start yet.

PV seems to like Benteke, so I think he will still start over Edouard for now.

I'll take Olise over Ayew any day. If we are leading late, then I like Ayew as a late sub, but the guy hasn't contributed anything to the offense in over a year, and we can't afford that.

2017 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Middlesboro
2018 Jan. (Sako) Palace 1 - 0 Burnley
2019 May (Batshuayi, Batshuayi, OG, Van Aanholt, Townsend) Palace 5 - 3 Bournemouth
2020 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Newcastle

Guaita

Ward Tomkins Guehi Mitchell

Kouyate

Olise Gallagher

Zaha Benteke Edouard

In his pre-match Vieira stated more than once that squad members who haven't had game time can expect to get some over the next month. Let's hope that will start tonight with Hughes in midfield instead of Luka, although if that does happen I would expect Kouyate to drop deep with Hughes in the Jimmy Mac role.

Whilst I see Olise as a great prospect he doesn't seem ready to start games. In the two he has started he didn't do much whereas he's been more effective off the bench. Should he start in central midfield as suggested by Syd. Yes BUT that's surely Eze's spot once he's fully up and running.

My front 3 would be Zaha, Benteke and Edouard with Edouard on the left and Wilf told to play on the right and provide a few decent crosses for Tekkers (and Edouard).