Both Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola have emerged as managers of some note, in terms of their tactical appreciation and the way in which they have their largely uncelebrated squads, with respect, playing some of the best football in the Premier League.
It's no coincidence that ahead of the fixture, the Eagles find themselves in sixth position on 12 points, whilst the Cherries are even better off, sat as they are in fourth position on 14 points.
Semenyo the one that got away for Palace?
Saturday's match certainly won't be an easy 90 minutes for either side, with the South Coast outfit almost certainly relying on the brilliant individual form of Antoine Semenyo, a player who once spent two months training with Palace before ultimately being sent on his way by the South London club.
How they must regret letting the former Bristol City hotshot slip through their fingers.
Born and raised in Chelsea, Selhurst Park would've been a much easier commute than Ashton Gate, and now a vital part of Iraola's squad, Semenyo is flying in the English top flight.
Only Haaland has a better record in 2025/26
With six goals and three assists in the 25/26 campaign, including an epic finish against Liverpool at Anfield earlier in the season, only Man City powerhouse Erling Haaland has more contributions (nine goals and one assist).
What's interesting is that in the 97 games played for the Cherries, Semenyo's 28 goals and 11 assists is exactly the same output as Dominic Solanke provided in a similar time frame before moving to Tottenham, and it's fair to say that the latter has been the more celebrated of the two frontmen until recently.
The 25-year-old Ghanaian is now piquing the interest of the North Londoners too, as well as Man Utd, although a £75m release clause might be a step too far for either club at this point.
Liverpool are also allegedly interested in his services, and that interest can only have increased after the player's brilliant goals and performance in the North West earlier this season.
Semenyo's all-round stats are noteworthy
Another goal scored, this time scored against Fulham in the match at the Vitality Stadium, was arguably even better as it showcased both his dribbling abilities and physical presence as well as his finishing.
Semenyo certainly loves a duel with his direct opponents and has contested over 1000 since pulling on the black and red striped shirt.
Add in 359 more aerially plus his 344 ball recoveries, 101 tackles attempted (65 of which were won), 71 clearances and 23 defensive interceptions, and one begins to appreciate the all-round nature of his attacking offering.
Whilst the physical aspect of a forward's armoury is certainly necessary in the modern game, thankfully for the Ghanaian, it isn't all he has in his locker.
As he showed in both of those games, he also has pace to burn, and that's evidenced by the 24 fast breaks he's made in a Bournemouth shirt.
His shooting accuracy has never dipped below 50% since signing for the Cherries either, suggesting a lack of wastefulness when pulling the trigger.
Shot conversion could be improved
A current shot conversion rate of 35.3% is slightly misleading given how early into the current season we are, and therefore his 13.3% from the 2024/25 campaign would be a more accurate guide in this regard.
It's perhaps the main area of his game that requires improvement for him to be considered a truly elite marksman, because there's little wrong with his big chance conversion rate at this point. Using last season's figure again for this purpose, a 29.4% showing is an admirable statistic.
So too is his ever-improving passing range. During his first season at Bournemouth, this was at a not insignificant 66.7%, but Semenyo has clearly worked hard on this part of his game and seen it rise to 78.2% last season.
Bournemouth would clearly be hugely reluctant to sell but would begrudingly accept that if a so-called bigger club came in for him and at the right price, they'd be almost powerless to stop him moving on.
Should he stay or should he go?
With Man Utd having only recently signed Benjamin Sesko and Tottenham having Solanke already in their ranks, there has to be a question mark as to why either club would throw their hats into the ring for another forward.
Liverpool have recently added Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitite to their squad too, so there's little to suggest he'd be Anfield-bound either.
For now then, despite all of the positive speculation, the player would do well to just ignore the noise and concentrate on doing what he does best.
