The lowdown on Crystal Palace's pre-season ahead of the Premier League opener against Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town's opening day fixture against Crystal Palace will be a proud occasion.

In their first foray into Premier League football, the Terriers travel to Selhurst Park on Saturday 12 August.

Here, in the build up to this historic game, Ben Abbiss takes an in-depth look at how Palace's pre-season has gone.

The Eagles are one of the more unpredictable teams prior to this season's Premier League.

In recent years they have spent big, bringing in the likes of Cristian Benteke (£27m), Andros Townsend (£13m) and Yohan Cabaye (£10m) in an attempt to breach the upper echelons of English football.

Instead, last season they ended up calling on the services of former England manager and renowned escape artist Sam Allardyce to save them from the drop.

After Big Sam opted not to stay on this summer, the owners selected former Ajax manager, Frank de Boer, to take the helm.

A disappointing spell at Inter Milan, lasting just 84 days, was overlooked in favour of the four Dutch league titles and attractive brand of total football he had brought to Ajax previously.

De Boer's arrival at Selhurst Park coincided with a tightening of the purse strings by Palace chairman, Steve Parish.

So far this summer they have spent just £8m, with 20-year-old centre back Jairo Riedewald and Chelsea loanee Ruben Loftus Cheek their only recruits.

This has meant de Boer has had to mould the existing squad to fit his desired 3-4-3 formation in the style of Antonio Conte's Chelsea.

Andros Townsend, Patrick van Aanholt and Joel Ward have all been trialled at wing-back while midfield enforcer Luka Milivojevic has regularly had to fill in at centre back.

The recent arrival of Dutch defender Riedewald has plugged this defensive deficiency in more than one sense, though.

In 1-1 draws against Metz and Schalke, he has shown a passing ability and composure beyond his years that will set a base for Palace's expansive approach this season.

Loftus-Cheek has slotted in well too, establishing a dynamic partnership with Jason Puncheon in the centre of midfield.

One player from last season that has benefited from the new style is Wilfred Zaha.

Playing on the left of a front three, his pace and trickery has caused massive problems for opposition defences in pre-season.

Against Metz he scored Palace's only goal, and in a 2-0 win against West Brom he terrorised the Baggies' defence with attacking flair and work-rate.

That performance prompted his manager to call him the "Neymar of Crystal Palace".

Zaha may not keep up this form all season - he never has before - but the timing of this latest burst is badly timed from a Terriers' perspective.

Better news for Town as they look ahead to Saturday 12 August is the poor form of Christian Benteke.

The big Belgian was Palace's top scorer last season with 15 but has only mustered one goal in 327 minutes of pre-season football.

That was in the Eagles' last friendly against Schalke and only came after a goalkeeping error flapped the ball on to his head six yards out.

With six minutes remaining he wasted a one-on-one chance and the game ended level.

Saturday will be a clash between two of the Premier League's more unknown quantities.

De Boer's style could not contrast more with the Crystal Palace of last season while David Wagner's Huddersfield will be looking to surprise some opponents this season with a similarly expansive approach.

Both sides' pre-season performances would suggest the managers' ideas are getting across.