It’s been a season of two halves for Crystal Palace who, having been fifth at the end of 2015, halted a run of five straight defeats with a 1-1 draw at Swansea City last weekend.

A 2-1 win at Chelsea at the end of August saw the Eagles soar as high as second but Alan Pardew’s side have struggled for a consistent run of form and last won in the Premier League at Stoke City on December 19.

The south Londoners haven’t been helped by a lack of goals from their strikers this term.

Connor Wickham, signed for £8 million from Sunderland in the summer, has scored just once – a penalty – while Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford failed to net in six outings as a substitute before seeing his deal cut short.

Marouane Chamakh has also drawn a blank in front of goal. Despite their Palace’s troubles Fraizer Campbell and Dwight Gayle have been used sparingly.

Free agent Emmanuel Adebayor – formerly a target for Watford - has been brought in to help the Eagles rediscover their goalscoring touch but the experienced striker hadn’t played since last season.

With an exciting trio of players – Wilfried Zaha, Yannick Bolasie and Jason Puncheon – behind the striker in Pardew’s 4-2-3-1 system the Eagles have proved there is more than one way to skin a cat.

However, one suspects with regular goals from a centre-forward Palace could be competing for a Europa League place once more.

Here we profile three players who could make the difference against the Hornets.

Watford Observer:

Emmanuel Adebayor: The former Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur striker could easily have been lining up in the Hornets’ colours for this encounter.

Instead he will lead the line for the hosts after joining on a contract until the end of the season in a bid to prove his fitness and desire.

The 31-year-old was freed by Tottenham after the summer transfer window closed, prohibiting him for signing for another English club until January.

He was handed his Palace debut from the bench in the 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth at the beginning of the month and made his first start against Swansea last weekend.

After hitting 46 league goals in 86 league starts for Arsenal Adebayor joined Manchester City for £25 million.

Despite a return of 15 in 27 starts he was quickly cast aside and spent time on loan at Real and Spurs before moving to White Hart Lane on a permanent basis.

He struggled to repeat the form he had showed while on loan, though, and fell out of favour with Mauricio Pochettino last season before a protracted exit was completed.

Watford Observer:

Wilfried Zaha: With his creative cohorts Puncheon and Bolasie both ruled out through injury there will be a greater onus on the former Manchester United attacker to pull the strings.

Born in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, the 23-year-old moved to England aged four and joined Palace in 2005.

He made his first team debut five years later and after more than 100 appearances signed for Manchester United in January 2013 for a reported £15 million.

However, the England international was loaned straight back to Palace for the rest of the campaign and won the penalty which former Hornet Kevin Phillips converted to send Palace to the Premier League in Watford’s place at Wembley.

He finally moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2014 but was used fleetingly by David Moyes before returning to the south London club on loan ahead of the 2014/15 season.

His impressive form for the Eagles prompted a permanent return in February last year with Palace writing off the money United owed to complete the deal.

Watford Observer:

Scott Dann: While Palace’s attacking options usually draw the plaudits, at the other end of the field, the former Blackburn Rovers centre-back has quietly and impressively gone about his business.

Eyebrows were raised when the Eagles handed the 28-year-old a £60,000 a week contract in the summer but the former Birmingham City and Walsall defender has quickly justified that wage hike with a series of commanding and consistent displays.

The form of Dann, alongside Damien Delaney or Brede Hangeland, has been one reason Palace have been able to get away with scoring so few goals (26) as they have the ninth-best defence in the division with 30 conceded.

Born in Liverpool, Dann made his breakthrough with Walsall before moving to Coventry City in 2008.

After just a year at the Ricoh Arena, where he impressed alongside former Saddlers teammate Danny Fox, he earned a switch to Birmingham. He quickly built up a strong relationship with Roger Johnson at St Andrew's with Joe Hart behind the duo.

Two years with the Blues ended in relegation from the Premier League in 2011 but he made a swift return to the top flight by joining Blackburn Rovers for £6 million.

Relegation would again rear its ugly head but Dann spent a season-and-a-half in the Championship with Rovers before moving to south London in January 2014.

He was Player of the Year last season and signed a new five-year deal last summer.