England Premier League
Saturday 18th February 2023
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Brentford Community Stadium
Match Preview:
Brentford will understand that in their last game which ended in a 1-1 draw away to Arsenal they got lucky. Their equalising goal should not have counted and yet again VAR had made a glaring error, or at least the officials behind the system had. Brentford got a point against the then league leaders and it seemed an unlikely one. However it should be noted that the Bees still managed 9 attempts at goal at the Emirates Stadium and that draw also means that Thomas Franks side have gone 10 games unbeaten.
Brentford will be pushing for a European finish and they are in 8th place with 34 points. A win at the weekend could see them rise to 6th depending on other results around them and the club have picked up 11 points from their last 15. At home has seen the majority of success with just one loss so far and they have won 60% of their games. Goals are flowing in too with 23 so far from 10 games and impressively the Bees have won their last 3 at home with wins over Liverpool, Bournemouth and Southampton.
Crystal Palace are in 12th place and they are pushing for a top half position however they have fallen six points behind that target. While the Eagles are unbeaten in their last four games 3 of those have been draws. Their last game was a draw against Brighton at home. Away form is where Patrick Vieira’s side have been found out and whilst it is not amongst the worst in the league the Eagles have still only managed to win 9 from a possible 30 points. They have also lost their last two away games however they were against Manchester United and Chelsea.
Team News:
Brentford: Frank Onyeka has recovered from injury but has a lack of match fitness and will be assessed. Thomas Strakosha is still out with his ankle and Pontus Jansson is 50/50 to return following his hamstring injury.
Crystal Palace: Joachim Andersen is 50/50 to return after his calf injury, Will Hughes is being tipped to be fine after a slight knock. Nathan Ferguson looks set to miss out again due to a lack of match fitness. Chris Richards is a doubt with a back injury, Joel Ward is out for at least another week with his calf and Wilfried Zaha is rated at 50/50 to make this one after his hamstring and he will be assessed.
Brentford vs Crystal Palace Head to Head:
Last season this fixture finished 0-0.
The last 3 meetings have all ended in draws.
In the last 5 games that have taken place when Brentford have been the home team, Crystal Palace has just one win.
Brentford vs Crystal Palace Prediction:
Brentford have been all round impressive and there is no getting away from that. Not only have they shown very good form they are scoring goals and at this rate they have every chance to be playing European football next season but even if they don’t make it this has been a successful season for the Bees.
The one worry for the home side is of course complacency and a team like Palace can be a banana skin fixture. But we have to back the home side here given their strong and solid form at home. Ivan Toney is surely knocking on Gareth Southgate’s door now to get regular time as an England international and he keeps slotting in the goals. The problem for Palace is that they are drawing too many games and are missing the services of Wilfried Zaha, he may return here but he is just coming back and all round we expect the Bees to be on this from the first whistle and to be too strong for the Eagles on this occasion.
Brentford vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips:
Brentford to beat Crystal Palace at 1.83
Anytime goalscorer: Ivan Toney at 2.10
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