Édouard or Benteke: Five things Patrick Vieira is working on ahead of Crystal Palace v Everton

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has always said that he will get to know his players better during the difficult periods of the season - and that time has arrived.

Three defeats on the bounce has the rookie manager under pressure.

He needs a win to restore faith and belief in a squad that has shown promise even if the results haven’t always reflected the performances.

Next up is Everton, who will arrive at Selhurst Park buoyed on by their come-from-behind win against Arsenal on Monday night.

Palace have to pick themselves up from a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

Another defeat will see the club staring down the barrel of a relegation fight, and Vieira knows too well what four defeats on the spin in the Premier League mean.

So what has the Palace manager been working on this week ahead of the Everton game, LondonWorld brings you the inside story of the Croydon side’s preparations.

Set pieces

It’s a known secret in the Premier League that, despite all the improvements, Palace are susceptible to set pieces.

One of the strengths of opponents Everton are their set pieces, which is a unique skill set of manager Rafael Benítez.

The Spanish manager is a master of set-piece play and is able to set up his team to attack the weakness of the opposition.

Crystal Palace have conceded 21 goals in 15 league games this season, and more than half have been conceded at set pieces.

So it is no surprise that set-piece defending is taking centre stage ahead of the Everton game.

Finding a leader without the armband on the pitch

Another topic that has dominated training is urging players like Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher to take more responsibility and urge others to keep going, especially at the tail end of games.

There is a growing belief that the focus of the team falls flat when seeing games out.

The absence of James McArthur through injury and the form of Luka Milivojević has deprived the team of some of its natural leaders.

The injury to Joachim Andersen, who has traits of a natural leader has also been dearly missed, and Vieira has spent more time talking about the need to hold each other to account when seeing out games.

The star man of the team is obviously Wilfried Zaha, but he is not the kind of all-endearing leader even if he was handed the arm band against Manchester United.

Odsonne Édouard or Christian Benteke

French striker Édouard had a flying start to life in the Premier League, scoring twice on his debut, but it’s gone quiet now from him.

Since his double against Tottenham on his debut, he’s managed just one goal and has more often than not lost his starting slot.

When he starts he is played out wide on the right side of attack.

Christian Benteke has often been handed the lead role in a 4-3-3 system, but he’s also not scored enough with four goals this season.

Against Aston Villa, Vieira experimented with Édouard on the left, withdrawing the almost untouchable Zaha for the Frenchman to see if he can thrive there in a competitive game.

This week, Édouard and Benteke have played in different teams throughout training.

The final session at Selhurst Park on Saturday will determine if Benteke gets the nod to continue up front, or Edouard will get a chance to lead through the middle.

Keeping an eye on the progress of Andersen and McArthur

There is no hiding that the absence of both Andersen and McArthur has deflated the quality of the team, but what it has deprived them also is two tough characters on the pitch.

Both have returned slowly to training, but they are being closely monitored with the likelihood that they could be ready for a place on the bench on Saturday.

There is little certainly as of today, but there is a growing belief that one of them could make a quicker than expected return to help out through the festive fixtures.

Demanding more of himself in the final minutes

Patrick Vieira, despite being a combative midfielder in his prime, is calm at speaking and prefers to be solemn on the touch line.

But there has been a self introspection on whether he could up the ante, especially vocally, to get his team across the line in the final minutes of games.

The team is said to always be a reflection of the manager, and if they constantly lose or draw games in the final minutes then it can not longer be described as bad luck.