The woes of Crystal Palace

It seemed, not quite two months ago, that Crystal Palace was going to manage to climb out of the hole that they had dug themselves into at the beginning of the Premier League season, and avoid relegation another year.

Now, their fate is less clear.  Right now they are in the relegation zone, but had they managed a win against Manchester United (which seemed possible with a 2-0 lead), they would have been 13th instead of 18th.  But they gave up the lead, and then gave up the game in the 90th minute, so now they are, as the Brits say, in danger, with 27 points

However, so are a lot of other teams.  13th through 15th place has 30 points, which is one win difference when a win is worth 3 points.  12th place has 33 points (two wins) and both 10th and 11th place have 34 points (two wins and 1-point draw).

So it's not over.  In their next five games, they have to play Chelsea and Liverpool, which won't be likely wins (even though Chelsea is off-form right now), but they also play Huddersfield Town, Bournemouth, and Brighton-Hove Albion, which are 15th, 12th, and 10th respectively.  It doesn't help Crystal Palace that their likely best player, Wilfried Zaha, has been hurt, but the current news is that he might be able to play against Chelsea.  If I was the coach, I'd give him one more week to get better and take my chances in that game, and hopefully have him healthy for Huddersfield Town in one more week, which is much more critical.

I guess they'll just have to play them one game at a time.