5 potential surprises that could happen in football in 2018

#2 Roy Hodgson will steer Crystal Palace into the top half of the Premier League

Could Roy Hodgson really guide Crystal Palace into the top half?

When former England boss Roy Hodgson took over at Crystal Palace in early September following the sacking of Frank de Boer, it almost looked like he was taking on an impossible salvage job. Palace had lost their first four Premier League games and hadn’t scored a goal, and for the first three games of the Hodgson era, neither fact changed.

In fact, things seemed to get worse – they shipped five goals against Manchester City and four against Manchester United and were rooted to the bottom of the league table.

A stunning 2-1 victory over champions Chelsea marked Hodgson’s fourth game in charge, though, and since then there’s been no looking back. Palace have lost just three games since – two of those to title-challenging Tottenham and Arsenal – and although they’ve drawn more than they’ve won, it’s been enough to take them all the way up to 14th place, and on 22 points, they’re only three points away from Watford – who are in 10th place in the top half of the table.

Is it inconceivable that Hodgson could guide them into the top half? I’d say definitely not.

Since taking over at Selhurst Park, Hodgson has given the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Bakary Sako, James Tomkins and Luka Milivojevic new leases of life, and he’s made Palace into a far more resilient side than they ever were under de Boer.

The fact that their wins over Stoke, Watford and Southampton came after they fell behind tells you that much. After their disastrous start it seemed insane to think Palace’s season could end with anything but relegation, but thanks to Hodgson, the top half isn’t out of reach at all – and the patchy form of the teams around them like Brighton, Newcastle, Huddersfield and Watford means they could well finish there.