This article is part of Football FanCast's The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Crystal Palace travel to Vicarage Road this Saturday to take on a Watford side who are seriously down in the dumps as things stand.

The side who knocked the Eagles out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage last season have just eight points to their name after 15 games of the Premier League campaign, having won just a single match all season.

Additionally, the Hornets have also already dismissed two managers in Javi Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores, and are looking likely to be manager-less for this encounter unless a replacement is found before kick-off.

Despite their struggles, Watford still have a few players who can hurt Palace...

Ismaila Sarr

The Senegal international - who Palace tried to sign back in the summer (L'Equipe via GFFN) - scored his first Premier League goal for Watford recently against Southampton with a well-taken finish high into the net.

Sarr possesses blistering pace and has the ability to get in behind a creaking backline consisting of players such as James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho and Martin Kelly, who are hardly the quickest men in the world.

The 21-year-old could prove to be a thorn in Palace's side throughout this weekend's affair with his directness - Hodgson must inform his defenders of Sarr's best abilities so they can give themselves a few yards, in order not to get caught out.

Etienne Capoue 

While the Frenchman is a decent player, Capoue is a man that Palace must be wary of for slightly different reasons other than his footballing ability.

Last season, the former Tottenham man raked his studs down the Achilles of Wilfried Zaha during the league encounter at Vicarage Road, an incident that he really should've seen a red card for with Roy Hodgson also admitting that the foul negatively affected Palace's talisman.

Having watched the game, Capoue also tried to gee up the home support following the nasty, studs-up challenge as if he had done something positive - his dirty gamesmanship must be something that the Eagles try not to be influenced by.

“It definitely affected Wilf. We didn’t see anything like the best of him until late in the game. One can understand that type of challenge affecting him."

In other Crystal Palace news, the Eagles have been dealt a transfer blow after an update in the Championship...