Relegation Scrap: 3 Reasons Why Crystal Palace Can Retain Their Premier League Status

Crystal Palace opened their Premier League season with nine losses from 10 and quickly found themselves at the foot of the table. Now though, with a change of manager, they are now 16th and looking as though they could stay up. Here are three reasons why I think they have a good chance of survival.

1) manager

The Palace board made a shrewd move when they gave Ian Holloway the boot, in my eyes. Then they made an even shrewder one by replacing him with Tony Pulis.

Defensive stability is more important than goals when trying to stay in the Premier League, if you look at the league tables over the years then you'd see that. So to swap from a gung-ho gaffer in Ollie to a coach who likes his players to keep it tight and who demands a well-shaped defence is a great choice for me.

2) making the most of what they have

Palace don't have the most glamorous squad in the Premier League, but they have shown over the last month or so that they can mix it with some established top tier sides.

Wins against Aston Villa and Stoke have been either side of a draw at home to Norwich, and if they keep taking points of teams around them in the table then they will have a very good chance of survival.

3) home form

There are few noisier sets of fans in the topflight that Palace's home support. They rally round the side whether they are winning or losing, and it has proved to be a big advantage when playing at Selhurst Park. They have only lost five of their 11 home games so far in the league.