Two sides that were glad to see international football intervene will return from a much-needed break on Saturday, as Aston Villa and Crystal Palace meet at Villa Park.

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After 1,026 matches as a manager, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery lost four consecutive games for the first time as his ailing side ran out of steam heading towards the final international break of 2024.

A dismal run that started with last month's EFL Cup defeat to Crystal Palace has seen Villa lose their perfect record in the Champions League and slip down to ninth place in the Premier League table.

Last time out, the Birmingham club were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool at Anfield, continuing their 24-year sequence of failures away to top-two opponents.

Despite being without a win in five matches, Emery's men are still relatively well-placed in the top flight and in Europe, so they will hope to get back on track this weekend, ahead of a visit from Italian giants Juventus.

As only four points separate third from 13th in the Premier League pecking order, an upturn in form could soon have the Villans back in contention for another top-four finish.

So, having lost just one of 12 Premier League home games against Crystal Palace to date - only shipping six goals in total - history will be firmly on their side when the Eagles land at Villa Park.

Following their resounding 5-0 win over Aston Villa on the final day of last term, Palace are now looking to win successive league meetings with their second-city counterparts for the first time in a decade.

However, the away side have won just three of 24 Premier League encounters between the sides so far, with the London club's sole victory at Villa Park coming back in December 2013.

More pertinently, Oliver Glasner's team went into the break on the back of another defeat, losing 2-0 at home to Fulham, and are in similarly grim form to their hosts.

That came as a bitter blow, as they had previously put together a three-game unbeaten run: securing their first league win of the season against Tottenham Hotspur, beating Villa in the EFL Cup's last 16, then salvaging a point away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

As a result of their latest setback, Palace have posted just seven points this season - only twice before have they accrued fewer at this stage of a Premier League campaign - and are stuck inside the relegation zone.

Inevitably, Glasner's position has been called into question during a week or so of downtime, but the Austrian coach - who has won both of his previous battles with Emery - remains in post for now.

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