Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace LIVE: Danny Ings wastes huge chance as Wilfried Zaha goes close

Patrick Vieira has thrown a curveball this afternoon by making four changes to his Crystal Palace starting XI for today's trip to Villa Park.

The Frenchman has usually leaned towards a 4-3-3 system this season but it doesn't seem that will be the case this afternoon. There is reason to suggest he's switched the team to a back five as he did at Wembley against Chelsea in the FA Cup last month.

This would see Cheikhou Kouyate - whose position in the starting XI on the Palace website would suggest he's in defence - deployed alongside Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi at centre back, with Nathaniel Clyne and Tyrick Mitchell offering width at wing-back. This creates several scenarios in midfield, but it likely would give Jean-Philippe Mateta and Wilfried Zaha space up front to work together.

Another potential system would be a 4-2-2-2, with Luka Milivojevic and Kouyate holding in midfield while Conor Gallagher and Ebere Eze play in the attacking roles behind Zaha and Mateta. There's also the potential of a diamond to match Villa, with one of the midfielders tasked with sticking close to Philippe Coutinho and stop the Brazilian from impacting play too much.