Journalist Tom Barclay believes Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira should utilise Wilfried Zaha, Odsonne Edouard and Eberechi Eze as his front three when the trio are all fit.

Vieira has chopped and changed his attacking three in his 4-3-3 system in recent weeks, but Barclay thinks this might not be the case when Eze returns from his long-term injury lay-off.

Who has played in Crystal Palace's front three this season?

Zaha and Edouard have established themselves as regular starters under Vieira, aside from the former missing Palace's recent trip to Arsenal through illness.

The other spot in the attacking third of the pitch remains up for grabs, though. Christian Benteke, Jordan Ayew and Michael Olise have all been given game time, as Vieira attempts to find his preferred option to complement Zaha and Edouard.

However, it seems that he has not made his mind up yet as to who is worthy of a consistent starting berth in his team. 

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What has Barclay said on the matter?

Barclay feels Zaha and Edouard deserve to keep their places in the side. However, he has claimed that a player who is yet to feature this season, Eze, could be the final member of the front three moving forwards.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “I think probably a strike force of Zaha, Edouard, Eze sounds probably the way to go.”

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When could Zaha, Edouard and Eze finally play together?

Palace are not able to try out this combination at the moment as Eze is still recovering from the Achilles tendon injury he suffered in May.

His rehabilitation is understood to be progressing well, though, and it has been suggested that he could be back in action as early as next month.

This is exciting news for Palace fans, who will be looking forward to seeing Zaha, Edouard and Eze all linking up with one another.

Still, it must be remembered that Eze has not played for over five months, meaning that he should not be rushed back into the team too quickly.

Therefore, it seems that if all goes to plan, we could expect to see Eze begin to re-establish himself as a regular starter alongside Zaha and Edouard by the end of the year or in early 2022. 

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