Varadi

It's going to take some effort to recover from only having 10 points at Christmas - think they might be done this time.

use him to wear down and tire the stoke defenders then unleash ben arfa on them Useful for defending set pieces too - Stoke still have a whole heap of big lads.

a bit but better for him to miss Stoke than Arsenal Aye, that was my thinking too - he loves monstering Arsenal's tippy-tappy midfielders

I think he probably will tbh - seems to like 2 up top at home. Overall think he deserves great credit for the situation we're in - seems to be working on his previous weaknesses too, which is a positive sign.

Thought he was decent again today. If he's going to miss a game through suspension then Stoke at home is probably not a bad choice.

Another top performance. Like that we're experimenting with using him as a target from corners too, he's so good in the air.

It's been so long since we had a comfortable second half performance to just sit back and enjoy - could today be the day?? Surely Palace are going to offer something, they've been turbowank so far....

2 big lads up top for Palace - wonder how Pulis will be approaching this one....

The mackems outplayed them on their own pitch less than a week ago. Outplayed them 0-0?? Sounds like something off the SMB!

tbf even West Ham should be able to do the mackems over 2 legs, Especially if Carroll is back.

Man City losing 83 quid for every ticket sold stands out mind - ridiculous situation.

Well I was impressed that they gave Chelsea such a good game but if even the mackems can turn that shower over that doesn't mean much. Wouldn't be too upset with a draw but think a win is there for the taking if we play to our potential. Should start the team that played Man Utd imo.

Allardyce will want to be sacked before they actually get relegated so he'll always be able to claim he would've kept them up.

"Do you like one goal victories? Do you like unnecessarily edgy finishes to games? Do you want a gobshite manager to complement your (generally) insufferable fans? Maybe Pardew is the man for you!" Not happy losing 5-0 at home to Liverpool? This man can go one better...

They've now certain to be bottom at Christmas too, a position only 1 team has survived from since the Prem began

Nor should the full back and centre half be letting Cleverley just wander casually between them. Been some shocking defending by Villa today.

Every time I've seen him play he looks an absolute liability.

They need to beat Norwich at home next week to have any chance I reckon - after that it's Everton and Cardiff away. It looks a very tall order indeed to get out of this one...

Absolutely nailed him Everytime you accidentally hit someone, your eyebrows shoot up and you're all "Ohhh, you alright? Sorry!" and shit. Moose didn't blink. He looked like Drago watching Apollo die. He doesn't even turn around to look at him, just continues eyeballing the keeper

Can't really fault him today tbh - thought we created enough chances to have won comfortably, and played some lovely football at times.

He's actually become an active deterrent to our attacking play these days.

Absolutely nailed him

Cracking game that, really enjoyed it.

Camera lingering a bit too long on the young Asian lass in the crowd there - could see her getting a bit uncomfortable.

Big call to leave out Cazorla.