The major news there is four changes for City, with Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji missing with injury, Rico Lewis and Kyle Walker into defence. Palace might fancy their chances a bit more.
Newcastle seemed to have rotated out Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon for the perfectly capable Sean Longstaff and Harvey Barnes.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Maatsen, McGinn, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans, Bailey, Duran. Subs: Cash, Mings, Digne, Onana, Barkley, Buendia, Philogene, Watkins, Olsen.
Southampton: Lumley, Bree, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Manning, Downes, Fernandez, Dibling, Armstrong, Archer. Subs: Edwards, Taylor, Aribo, Fraser, Sugawara, Amo-Ameyaw, Kamaldeen, Brereton-Diaz, McCarthy
Brentford: Flekken; Lewis-Potter, Collins, Pinnock, Van den Berg; Norgaard, Yarmoliuk, Carvalho, Mbeumo, Thiago, Wissa. Subs: Valdimarrson, Schade, Mee, Ajer, Damsgaard, Konak, Trevitt, Roerslev, Maghoma
Newcastle: Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Barnes. Subs: Dubravka, Trippier, Kelly, Targett, Tonali, Almiron, Gordon, Wilson.
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Guehi, Lacroix, Chalobah, Mitchell, Lerma, Hughes, Munoz, Eze, Sarr, Mateta. Subs: Turner, Ward, Nketiah, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Richards, Doucoure, Devenny
Man City: Ortega, Walker, Gvardiol, Dias, Gundogan, Lewis, De Bruyne, Silva, Savinho, Nunes, Haaland. Subs: Ederson, Carson, Grealish, Doku, Wright, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee, Wilson-Esbrand
Here’s the games that won’t be taking place.
Premier League
Everton v Liverpool
Championship
Cardiff City v Watford
Plymouth Argyle v Oxford United
League One
Blackpool v Rotherham United
Bristol Rovers v Bolton Wanderers
Crawley v Stevenage
League Two
Barrow v Milton Keynes Dons
Newport County v Carlisle United
Notts County v Colchester United
That early Championship action, latest scores:
Leeds 2-0 Derby
Sheff Wed 0-1 Preston
Sunderland 1-1 Stoke
It’s bitter out, and the lunchtime fun has been cancelled.
There’s always Leeds against Derby. But that’s not our specific wheelhouse here. There’s red-hot Premier League action. Thankfully, if windy, it’s not too bad in London, and the champions are in town, and with Liverpool not playing, can lick their wounds. Yes, Crystal Palace v Manchester City takes centre stage, and then Brentford v Newcastle sees Eddie Howe’s team taking on the team with the best home record in the Premier League. And Aston Villa v Southampton sees Villa, on that bad recent run, against Russell Martin’s bottom-of-the-table evangelists.
There will also be news from the EFL and across Europe, too. Join me.