Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth Odds
| Crystal Palace Odds | +125 |
| Bournemouth Odds | +210 |
| Draw | +250 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -105 / -118 |
Crystal Palace will be hosting Bournemouth in this midweek clash of two bottom half sides. Palace have been struggling as of late, mainly due to some key injuries, while Bournemouth have finally found some form and are looking to keep climbing the table.
Palace currently sit 12th in the Premier League on 16 points and are coming off a 1-1 draw against West Ham this past weekend. To be able to salvage a point away at the London Stadium is a good result for Roy Hodgson’s men, but another injury to Eze means a lot more than that point to their season going forward.
After their horrendous start, Bournemouth have found a nice bit of form over the past few weeks. They are coming off three straight matches unbeaten where they have picked up seven points along the way. They now sit 16th, six points above the relegation zone.
Let’s see how this midweek matchup will play out between Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace have been nothing more than an average side this year. They have been unlucky with injuries as most of their key players have been sidelined at one point or another during this season. Olise has only played in three matches this year, Eze has missed three matches, Doucouré is now out for the season and Dean Henderson is yet to play in a league match this season.
This team has still been above average defensively up to this point. They have only conceded 1.4 goals per match, kept five clean sheets and have been exceptionally efficient defensively at Selhurst Park. They have only conceded 7.4 xG in their six matches at home this year, that is good for sixth-best in the Premier League. They have their elite defensive line to thank for this, as Guehi, Andersen, Mitchell and Ward have only allowed 48 shots on target all season, the fourth-best in the league.
The reason they sit 11th in the table is because of how poor they have been going forward. The Eagles have only scored 14 goals in the league this season, the third-lowest total out of any team in the league. They have been underperforming slightly, with their season xG being 16.7, but still they are not creating anywhere near enough chances to be considered a top half side in the league.
With Eze out again for this match, I can see Palace struggling to create many big chances. The bright side is that this Bournemouth side has been conceding tons of goals all season long.
Bournemouth
After picking up just six points from their first 11 matches, Bournemouth have gotten seven points over their last three matches, beating Newcastle, Sheffield United and then splitting the points with Aston Villa. This was vital in potentially staying up this season for Bournemouth and Andoni Iraola, whose job security was getting shaky for a bit.
These last tbree matches should be very encouraging for Bournemouth fans as they have been creating flurries of big chances. They had nearly 2.5 xG against Newcastle, nearly 3 xG against Sheffield United and just over 2 xG against Aston Villa. They also gave up less than 1 xG in all three of these matches, showing that these results were no fluke and they thoroughly deserved these points.
The Cherries now have the 14th- highest xG total, ninth-most shots on target per match and have the same number of big chances created as Crystal Palace. Iraola has stuck to his guns with the intense pressing and now that he has most of his squad healthy in this 4-2-3-1 formation, they have been banging in the goals.
I expect Iraola to play a similar type of way to how they have in each of the last three matches with some intense pressing. They will likely be less worried about Palace scoring on the break as they have been a weak side going forward this season.
Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth
Prediction
These two sides have been trending in opposite directions over the past few weeks. Bournemouth have been on a good run of form, while Palace have struggled to put together many convincing performances.
I anticipate Bournemouth to control possession in this match, even though they will be away from home. I think they will be playing a high line and pressing high, which could result in both sides creating chances.
I do not feel comfortable picking a side in this match, nor do I see any value on either side, therefore I will be taking both teams to score in this match. Bournemouth will be looking to get ahead early in this one and will be pressing high for the first 15 minutes, which could result in an early goal for either side. Once one goes in, both sides will be looking to get one as this is a winnable match with vital points on the line for both.
