England Premier League
Saturday 20th August 2022
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Selhurst Park
Match Preview:
Crystal Palace have had to open up their campaign with two tricky matches. The first was against Arsenal and then they had to travel to Liverpool.
Against the Gunners Palace played some good football but their finishing abandoned them and they eventually lost 2-0 but didn’t deserve too. This placed a lot of pressure on the club for their next game against Jurgen Klopp’s team at Anfield. However Palace came away with a deserved 1-1 draw. Wilfried Zaha’s level has really gone up in the past few years and he scored a cracking goal in that game and being able to go to Liverpool and come away with a point would have felt like a victory for the Eagles. It is clear that under Patrick Vieira the club are heading in the right direction.
Aston Villa had to bounce back from their opening weekend defeat to newly promoted Bournemouth and they did so by beating a dogged Everton side 2-1 at Villa Park. It wasn’t a memorable game, was quite physical, and there wasn’t a lot in it in the end but Villa found the goals just at the right time and were only threatened when they were two goals up with five minutes to play. Manager Steven Gerrard was obviously over joyed at registering a win but now his concern will be can his team start to pick up points away from home?
Just like last weekend which saw Gerrard as manager of Villa come up against another great midfielder in Everton manager Frank Lampard so does this weekend throw up a side story of Gerrard v Vieira and the two midfielders certainly fought in many classic battles between their clubs Liverpool and Arsenal in the 2000s. Because of that there will be a mutual respect in the dug out before a whistle is blown.
Team News:
Crystal Palace: Jack Butland is out with a hand injury and isn’t expected back for another 2-3 weeks at the earliest. James Tomkins (calf) and James McArthur (groin) are both out with no return date. Nathan Ferguson is not expected back until October with a foot injury.
Aston Villa: Diego Carlos is the big blow for the club, he has an Achilles injury and is expected to be out long term. Matthew Cash and Phillipe Coutinho both muscle injuries could make the squad but will both be assessed.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa Head to Head:
Last season Aston Villa won this fixture 2-1.
The last three meetings have seen both teams to score.
3 of the last four meetings has witnessed over 2.5 goals.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa Prediction:
We expect to see a very good game here because both sides will be delighted to get points on the board after disappointing starts. For Palace there will be some pressure more than Villa being at home and already losing here so Vieira will be hoping that his side can be less wasteful in front of goal. If we anaylse their first two games Palace have been wasteful and if not for the quality of Zaha perhaps would come into this game with zero points.
Villa are working hard for their manager but they showed weaknesses at set pieces against Everton. The reality between these sides is there is not much difference in quality so the battle will be very interesting to win and for this type of game it could all come down to the clash in midfield. It is very hard not to be impressed with the overall work rate at Palace though and Vieira remains a very serious manager clearly in love with the project at Palace, we will pick the home team to get something from what could be a tight encounter.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (0.0 Crystal Palace) at 1.79
Anytime goalscorer: Wilfried Zaha at 2.75
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