Patrick Vieira ponders formation change in absence of on-loan Conor Gallagher

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has hinted the enforced absence of Conor Gallagher for Saturday’s visit of Chelsea could see the hosts make a rare formation change.

The Eagles will be without their seven-goal hitman due to the terms of his loan agreement from the new Club World Cup champions.

England international Gallagher has been a key figure in Vieira’s debut season at Selhurst Park where the former Arsenal captain has regularly used a 4-3-3 formation but those tactics could be mixed up for the London derby.

“No injuries outside of Nathan Ferguson,” the Palace boss said.

“We knew the rules before signing Conor so it is not a surprise at all that he won’t be involved in the games against Chelsea.

“We try a different system, we try different players and still we have to have a reflection about who will play to replace Conor.”

Palace were without Gallagher for the opening day loss at Stamford Bridge, which saw Vieira begin life as a manager in the Premier League with a disappointing 3-0 defeat.

The Eagles are much improved now and have integrated summer signings like Joachim Andersen, Will Hughes and Michael Olise into the starting XI since the previous clash in August.

While Chelsea enter this fixture following Club World Cup success in Abu Dhabi, the Blues have struggled domestically in recent months and won only two of their last eight league matches to fall behind in the title race.

“There is no doubt we are a better team than we were when we played them before,” Vieira insisted.

“It is a massive challenge but really exciting at the same time. We know how good they can be and it will be a home game so we have to play with tempo, with rhythm and we have to be aggressive.

“We need to have all those ingredients