Crystal Palace welcome Southampton to the south-east of London on Saturday as former England boss Roy Hodgson and his side host Mark Hughes' men this weekend.

Neither side have enjoyed a by-large successful beginning to the campaign; with the Eagles sitting mid-table on three points, meanwhile, the visitors are yet to tally a win this season - a measly draw against Burnley on the opening weekend.

Palace's only win of the term so far came on the other side of the city at newly-promoted Fulham, a 2-0 triumph saw them get off a high-spirited start. However, a minor rot, which saw successive defeats to Liverpool and Watford more recently, was halted as Hodgson's men were able to beat Championship outfit Swansea City in the Carabao Cup midweek.

As for Southampton, they began the campaign with a goalless draw to Burnley on home soil before back-to-back defeats, similar to their opposition, against Everton and Leicester City - which included an injury-time winner from the Foxes - but made up for it as the Saints defeated south coast rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in the Cup on Tuesday.

There is optimism from the away camp who learned the news on Thursday that goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who has the joint highest number of clean sheets in the Premier League this season, has been called up to the England team for the upcoming international break.

Relief for Eagles as defender returns

Manager Roy Hodgson will have a catastrophic shy of relief in the build-up to the home encounter against Southampton as one of his most prized possessions is available for selection ahead of kick-off.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, aged just 20, is one of the brighter stars to come out of Palace's academy in the last year and is set to solidify his slot at right-back this term.

The England under-20 international, who's switched his priorities from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has only made a handful of appearances for the London-based club but is already being compared to Real Madrid's Marcelo.

Wan-Bissaka was dismissed during the 2-0 loss to Liverpool and was therefore suspended for the fixture with Watford but has returned to the first-team fold following that one-match ban.

Hodgson will also be monitoring the situation regarding centre-half James Tomkins, having pulled out of last weekend's outing in the warm-up due to a calf problem.

Saints striker likely to miss trip

Southampton's marquee summer signing, Danny Ings, is 50-50 in contention to feature for the game against Crystal Palace this weekend with the loanee sustaining a minor injury to the foot. As a result, the Saints could see midweek scoring hero Charlie Austin lead the line.

Whilst midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is a definite absentee for Selhurst Park as the player will be serving his one-match suspension for receiving marching orders in the loss to Leicester City.

That may result in Steven Davis regaining a place in the starting eleven, who netted the only goal in this fixture last season, having been an unused substitute for last weekend's outing.

Predecessor meets successor

Hodgson and Hughes are names that usually two names people first think of when discussing Premier League managers as the most recognisable and renowned bosses to grace the division - both have even managed the same club, back-to-back.

The former was in charge at Fulham for two-and-a-half years and was an absolute revelation at Craven Cottage, especially ending his tenure by taking the team to the Europa League final - which they did lose 2-1 to Atletico Madrid - but did defeat Juventus during that historic run.

Hughes succeeded Hodgson in the summer of 2010, having managed Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers previously.

His spell only lasted twelve months, however, despite leading Fulham to an eighth-placed Premier League finish and qualifying for the Europa League.

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