I'm trying to show you that Crystal Palace's away record or overall record against the big sides isn't as impressive as you claim. Like I mentioned in my original reply to you, Palace have only won two matches against the top 8 sides in the last 13 months. Both of them coming against us at Old Trafford. And Hodgson doesn't have the best away record against the top 6 either, like you claimed. Nuno for example has bettered him in only two years for example, like I mentioned in my previous reply. Get your facts straight.
I agree that Covid has clearly disrupted football and it has disrupted some clubs more than others. Our last season was longer because of the Europa League but our coaching staff has known for a long time when the season would start and what the fixture schedule looked like. In my opinion we've had more than enough time to plan and prepare against Palace despite the Covid disruption. Not only did we lose, but we played badly. What we can learn from yesterday is that our coaching staff and players simply haven't prepared themselves well enough for this season. After yesterday's performance I'm afraid we're playing catch up already.
Last season Wolves went out in the quarter finals of the Europa League, effectively ending their season only about 5 days before ours. But despite that they beat Sheffield United fairly comfortably last weekend. And Sheffield had the benefit of a longer pre-season, just like Crystal Palace. Now how did Wolves manage that win despite similar circumstances to United I wonder? My guess is that they were simply better prepared.