This article is part of Football FanCast’s Injury News series, which considers the impact of the latest updates on players’ fitness.
Crystal Palace have been handed somewhat of a boost ahead of Tuesday evening’s game against Bournemouth, after it was revealed that Josh King is expected to miss his side’s visit to south London.
The Norway international was absent for the Cherries’ 3-2 defeat to Tottenham last time out and the match against Wolves before that, having suffered an injury to his hamstring, and the fact that the former Manchester United man won’t be present at Selhurst Park should be welcome news for the Eagles.
Watch Crystal Palace V Bournemouth Live and Free with Amazon Prime
Why should it?
King – who has scored three goals while also grabbing two assists in the Premier League this term – quite simply tends to find the net a fair amount against the south Londoners.
King netted his first goal against Palace in the Premier League in a 1-1 draw back in August 2016, sweeping a low finish past the hapless Steve Mandanda.
Following that strike, the 27-year-old then scored an 89th-minute equaliser against Roy Hodgson’s side at the Vitality Stadium after excellent goals from Wilfried Zaha and Luka Milivojevic had given Palace the lead.
His latest edition of being a thorn in the Eagles’ side came when he netted in last season’s final day thriller at Selhurst Park, netting the Cherries’ third goal in a 5-3 defeat.
Still not going to be easy
We have already outlined two other Bournemouth players who have the potential to cause Palace problems on Tuesday evening, and there are more stars who can still potentially run riot even with King out.
Callum Wilson in particular, a man who has scored for England and has five Premier League goals this term, is absolutely rapid while also possessing great physical strength – with Scott Dann and Gary Cahill both missing, he may well run the not-so-rapid Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins ragged.
Having said that, Palace can breathe slightly easier in the knowledge that King isn’t looking likely to be available.
In other Crystal Palace news, the next seven fixtures could be season-defining for two reasons…
