Crystal Palace 0-0 Aston Villa: Watkins hits post as visitors miss chance to go second

Ollie Watkins hit the post with a late header as Aston Villa were held to 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace in a competitive encounter at Selhurst Park.

With Manchester City dropping more points by drawing against Brighton in one of Wednesday’s other games, victory would have seen Villa move up to second in the Premier League table.

Instead, they remain third and have edged to within five points of leaders Arsenal, who host Liverpool on Thursday.

In-form Watkins almost secured the points for Villa late in the game but saw his headed effort agonisingly bounce off the post.

Palace also had their chances, with Brennan Johnson producing a lively performance on his home debut and being impressively denied by Emiliano Martinez in the first half, with the away goalkeeper then substituted at half-time.

The hosts also came close to finding a winner when Justin Devenny’s attempt from a rebound was heroically blocked by a Lucas Digne sliding challenge.

But it was Villa who shaded the contest, with another late chance missed by Morgan Rogers shortly after Watkins had been denied by the woodwork.

85 – Victor Lindelöf completed all 85 of his passes for Aston Villa against Crystal Palace, the best 100% passing accuracy figure by a player in a Premier League game since Aymeric Laporte for Manchester City against Everton on February 26th 2022 (110). Meticulous. pic.twitter.com/FOTPoWXlm3

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 7, 2026

Data Debrief: Villa’s scoring run comes to an end

This was a tight encounter, though Villa will have been disappointed not to score after racking up 15 shots to Palace’s 11, and creating good enough chances to rack up an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.57.

The goalless draw saw a run of 10 straight Premier League games in which Villa had scored come to an end, with Unai Emery’s men drawing a blank for the first time since a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in November.

Emery remains without a win against Oliver Glasner in seven top-flight games (D2 L5), his worst winless record against any manager.

Though one plus for Villa was a fine passing display from defender Victor Lindelof, who completed all 85 of his passes, the best passing accuracy performance by a player in a Premier League game since Aymeric Laporte (110/110) for Manchester City against Everton almost four years ago in February 2022.

Palace, meanwhile, are now on their worst Premier League streak without winning (six games) since going eight matches without victory between August and October 2024 as their difficult run of form continued despite a battling performance.

Specifically at home, Palace have failed to win six straight league games (D3 L3), which is their longest run without a victory in front of their own fans since a seven-match run under Roy Hodgson between September and December 2023.