Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace: Why the Eagles Are Unai Emery's Ultimate Kryptonite

Football can be a funny game. You have Aston Villa sitting third in the Premier League, breathing down the necks of Arsenal and Manchester City, looking every bit like a title contender. Then you have Crystal Palace, a team that has spent much of the 2025/26 season oscillating between "pretty decent" and "total injury crisis." Yet, when these two meet, the form book doesn't just go out the window—it gets shredded and set on fire.

If you’ve been following the recent history of Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s a matchup that has become a genuine tactical nightmare for Unai Emery. Honestly, it’s one of the weirdest statistical anomalies in the current top-flight era. Despite Villa’s meteoric rise, they simply cannot seem to crack the Oliver Glasner code.

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The January Stalemate and a Seven-Game Curse

Let’s look at the most recent clash at Selhurst Park on January 7, 2026. On paper, Villa should have walked it. They were coming off a resounding run of 11 wins in 12 matches. Palace, meanwhile, were so short on players they could only name 13 fit senior outfielders. Glasner was literally throwing kids like Jaydee Canvot and Justin Devenny into the deep end against Champions League quality opposition.

And yet? A 0-0 draw.

It wasn't even a "boring" 0-0. It was a game of "what if." Brennan Johnson, Palace’s club-record signing, nearly blew the roof off the stadium on his home debut, only to be denied by a vintage Emi Martínez fingertip save. Then Martínez had to go off at halftime, replaced by Marco Bizot. Villa hit the post through Ollie Watkins in the 84th minute, and Morgan Rogers—Villa's "man of the moment"—blazed a sitter over the bar in the dying seconds.

That result extended Villa's winless run against the Eagles to seven matches in all competitions. Seven. For a team of Villa's caliber, that’s not just a slump; it’s a psychological hurdle.

Why Glasner’s Tactics Kill the Villa Machine

Unai Emery is a details man. He loves his high defensive line. He loves his structured 4-2-3-1 that transitions into a suffocating press. But Oliver Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 is basically the structural opposite of what Emery wants to face.

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Back in early 2025, Palace hammered Villa 4-1. Emery even tried to match Glasner’s back three that day, and it backfired spectacularly. It was a "tactical nightmare," as some analysts called it. The issue is space. Palace’s wing-backs, like Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Muñoz, stay incredibly wide, stretching Villa’s compact midfield. When Villa tries to squeeze the play, Palace has this uncanny ability to use Adam Wharton’s vision to bypass the press entirely.

Wharton is the key. He’s the one who exposed Villa’s high line on January 7 to set Brennan Johnson free. If you don’t shut down Wharton, you don’t beat Palace. It's that simple, but evidently very hard to execute.

The Statistical Gap

When you look at the 2025/26 season stats, the disparity is wild:

• Aston Villa: 13 wins, 43 points, 33 goals scored.
• Crystal Palace: 7 wins, 28 points, 22 goals scored.

Despite Villa having nearly double the goal output and a vastly superior league position, the head-to-head record for the season shows a 3-0 Palace win at Villa Park in August and that 0-0 draw in London. Palace has effectively taken four points off a title contender while sitting in mid-table.

The Battle of the Talismans: Watkins vs Mateta

You can't talk about Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace without mentioning the guys up top. Ollie Watkins and Jean-Philippe Mateta are the focal points, but they do it so differently.

Watkins is the engine. He’s got 7 goals this season and is constantly making those diagonal runs that keep defenders awake at night. In the January game, he was inches away from being the hero, but Maxence Lacroix—who has been a rock for Palace—produced a last-ditch block that was arguably as good as a goal.

Mateta, on the other hand, is pure chaos. He’s also on 8 goals for the season and leads Palace in shots on target (34). He’s the type of striker who doesn't need a "good" game to score; he just needs one mistake from a center-back like Ezri Konsa or Pau Torres. Even when he isn't scoring, his physical presence occupied Villa's defenders enough to let Yeremy Pino and Brennan Johnson find pockets of space.

What Most People Get Wrong About This Rivalry

A lot of casual observers think Villa just "underperforms" against Palace. That's a bit lazy.

The reality is more about matchup styles. Villa thrives when teams try to outplay them at their own game. They struggle when a team is happy to have 40% possession, sit in a compact block, and launch vertical counters. In the January draw, Villa had 59% of the ball. They completed over 500 passes. They looked "better," but they weren't necessarily "closer" to winning until that frantic final 10 minutes.

Palace under Glasner has developed this "giant-killer" DNA. They don't mind the suffering. When you have Marc Guéhi leading a backline that is used to being under pressure, a few Villa crosses aren't going to induce panic.

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Actionable Insights for the Next Encounter

If you’re looking ahead to the next time these two face off, or if you're trying to figure out how Villa finally breaks the curse, keep an eye on these specific areas:

1. The Bizot Factor: With Emi Martínez showing some injury vulnerability recently, the performance of backup keeper Marco Bizot is massive. He made a huge save from a Yeremy Pino curler in the last game. Villa's defensive stability hinges on that goalkeeper-defense communication.
2. Width is the Weapon: Villa looked most dangerous when Matty Cash pushed high. His cross for Watkins' post-hitting header was the best chance of the match. To beat Palace, Villa has to force the Palace wing-backs to defend deep rather than allowing them to pin Villa's full-backs.
3. The Morgan Rogers Role: Rogers is tied with Watkins for top scorer at Villa (7 goals). He is the X-factor. However, against Palace, he often gets crowded out in the "No. 10" space by Will Hughes and Adam Wharton. If Emery can find a way to get Rogers 1-on-1 against a center-back rather than a defensive midfielder, the goals will come.
4. Managing the High Line: Palace has pace to burn with Brennan Johnson and Ismaïla Sarr. If Villa doesn't drop their line by five yards when Wharton has time on the ball, they will keep getting caught.

Villa is a fantastic team, but Crystal Palace is their "final boss" level. To stay in the title race, Emery has to solve the Glasner problem. Until then, Selhurst Park remains the place where Villa’s ambitions go to get frustrated.

Watch the midfield battle next time. If Wharton is allowed to turn and face forward, Villa's high line is toast. If Villa can isolate Mitchell and Muñoz, they finally stand a chance of ending that seven-game winless streak. Keep an eye on the injury reports too—Palace is a different beast when they actually have 11 senior players available.