Palace were forced into a last-minute change for the defeat to Arsenal, as Joachim Andersen sustained a calf injury in the warm-up and was unable to link up with the Denmark squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Mathias Jensen had drawn first blood for Brentford before half time, but Harvey Barnes responded seven minutes after the restart before Shandon Baptiste was sent off in the dying embers - there was barely any time for Leicester to make their numerical advantage count, though. Very few silver linings have broken through the clouds over the King Power Stadium in recent weeks, but ending a five-game losing run at the home of European outsiders Brentford just before the international break raised a few wry smiles.

One of the most mouth-watering relegation battles in the Premier League era will soon materialise, and the immediate job at hand for Hodgson is to end a four-game losing run for Palace, who have just the one goal to boast from their last 450 minutes of top-flight football. Now winless in 13 games across all tournaments since the New Year, Palace have somehow managed to retain their 12th-placed standing in the table, but neither they nor any of the eight teams below them are safe from the drop - Hodgson's side are only four points better off than Southampton in 20th place. Patrick McCarthy's one game in charge went about as well as expected, as Palace went down 4-1 to league leaders Arsenal before the international break, succumbing to strikes from Bukayo Saka (2), Gabriel Martinelli and Granit Xhaka while netting a consolation through Jeffrey Schlupp. While some believe that re-hiring Hodgson points to a lack of a long-term plan from the Eagles board, the former Watford, Liverpool and England boss is only under contract until the end of the season, by which point he would have either succeeded or failed in his task to keep Palace afloat in the top flight.

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