Too few signings and bad run see problems mounting for Vieira

PATRICK VIEIRA expects to face a "different Manchester United" to the one Crystal Palace beat on the final day of last season, when the two sides meet at Selhurst Park tonight.

-  Malik Ouzia

More worryingly, Palace look a different side, too.

Wilfried Zaha's goal and 1-0 victory capped a fine debut season for Vieira in the Palace dugout, a 12th-placed finish secured and the safety and pragmatism of Roy Hodgson's reign replaced by swagger and progress more swiftly than most had imagined possible. There had been a trip to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final as well.

But as the Eagles prepare to welcome Erik ten Hag's resurgent side, Vieira is experiencing perhaps the rockiest patch of his tenure so far. Palace have taken just three points from their last five League games, beating plummeting Bournemouth 2-0 on New Year's Eve, have failed to score in any of the four defeats and exited both domestic cup competitions during the same period.

The club is paying the price for failing to properly back Vieira in last summer's transfer window, when only four signings were made, two of them free transfers in back-up goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and Derby's teenage winger Malcolm Ebiowei.