Former Arsenal forward Paul Merson has claimed that Crystal Palace could be as good as relegated from the Premier League if they lose to Southampton this weekend.
The Eagles are currently rock bottom of the Premier League table on zero points having lost all four of their league games at the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
A disastrous start to the season saw Frank de Boer lose his position as head coach, with former England boss Roy Hodgson now in charge of first-team affairs.
Merson, however, does not believe that Hodgson will make too much of a difference to a Palace team that have an extremely difficult run of games over the next few weeks.
Merson told Sky Sports:
“Palace have to win this otherwise they are near-on relegated. I say that because of the three games they have after this one [Manchester City away, Manchester United away, Chelsea at home].
“If they lose this then they could go eight games without a point. You can’t stay up with that. I don’t think Roy Hodgson will make too much of a difference.”
Palace, who have not scored a single Premier League goal this season, had the third-worst home record in the league last term – losing 11 of their 19 games at Selhurst Park.
Southampton, meanwhile, will enter this weekend’s match having collected five points from their four matches thus far, which has left the club down in 13th position in the table.
