Alan Pardew heads into the match that will determine his future on the back of a week in which he has turned to desperate measures to improve a side that cannot stop losing.
By his own stark admission, Crystal Palace are in ‘crisis’, with the final destination of their free-fall increasingly uncertain for manager and club.
For Palace on a run of six straight defeats, that might well be relegation next year, but Pardew’s fate could be settled far sooner, given he is likely to be sacked if his side fall at home to Southampton on Saturday.