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Football London
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Joe Doyle

Crystal Palace team news confirmed as Christian Benteke returns at Aston Villa, Joel Ward starts

Christian Benteke returns to the starting line up for Crystal Palace against his former club Aston Villa, after returning from a one-match suspension.

The striker picked up a dubious red card against West Ham after receiving two bookings for aerial challenges that Roy Hodgson described as "ludicrous".

Elsewhere, there are two further changes from the team that lost 7-0 against Liverpool last time out, with Nathaniel Clyne dropping to the bench and Joel Ward replacing him, while Scott Dann comes into the side for Gary Cahill.

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Vicente Guaita starts in goal, with Clyne and Dann joined in defence by Cheikhou Kouyate and Patrick van Aanholt.

It's the same midfield as last week, with Jeff Schlupp on the right and Ebere Eze on the left, and a central duo of Luka Milivojevic and James McArthur.

In attack, Benteke is of course joined by Wilfried Zaha.

Hodgson confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the hamstring injury Cahill picked up in the closing stages against Liverpool would rule him out of the clash at Villa Park - and with a quick turnaround before Leicester on Monday it's unlikely we'll see the centre-back return against Leicester.

"Gary Cahill is injured unfortunately," Hodgson told reporters. "He hasn’t recovered form the hamstring injury [against Liverpool].

"But apart from that it’s the ones we talk about every week, the long-term injuries. We only have Gary unavailable of the players we thought might be available."

Hodgson voiced his frustration at the injury following the defeat against Liverpool, with Cahill signalling throughout that he was fine to continue before pulling up and needing medical assistance in the closing stages.

"That was a bit frustrating," Hodgson said. "Because we did ask him on many occasions if his hamstring was ok, but he kept ensuring us it was ok and could carry on.

"But then in the last 10 he felt it even more and of course we had to sort of push him up front and labour on with 10 men.

"Again, one of those things I suppose that's going to happen in a game of football sometimes."

Crystal Palace XI: Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Dann, Van Aanholt; Schlupp, Milivojevic, McArthur, Eze; Zaha, Benteke.

Subs: Butland, Mitchell, Clyne, Tomkins, Riedewald, McCarthy, Townsend, Ayew, Batshuayi.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Cash, Hause, Mings, Targett; Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Traore; Grealish, El Ghazi, Watkins.

Subs: Heaton, Elmohamady, Guilbert, Konsa, Taylor, Nakamba, Hourihane, J. Ramsey, Davis.

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