England Premier League
Thursday 21st December 2023
Kick off at 8pm GMT
Venue: Selhurst Park
Match Preview:
This fixture will kick off the Christmas period of games and you’d have to believe that Crystal Palace will have a little bit more belief in themselves after last weekend. Heading into having to play the champions Manchester City away from home veteran manager Roy Hodgson was under pressure to keep his job, the club had lost four from five games. This was an expected and easy defeat- and so it went, Manchester City were 2-0 up as we headed into the 76th minute but a Jean Matata equaliser and 95th minute penalty from Michael Olise delivered one of the great comebacks as Palace drew 2-2. Had the game had another ten minutes to play City could have lost it.
The Eagles are in 15th place with 17 points and well on course to survive this season but recent results have been poor but the City one will give Hodgson some breathing space as they return back home for this game. Palace’s last home game ended in a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool and they have lost their last 4 here. Indeed Palace has the second to worst home record in the league with just 5 points won from a possible 24.
Brighton lost their fifth game of the season last weekend in an expected defeat against Arsenal, the game finished 2-0. The Seagulls are in 9th place and have a four point advantage to Chelsea so can’t drop out of the top half of the table before Christmas. Recent form has been average with 7 points won from their last 15 on offer and it’s been two games with no wins. Their last victory came against Brentford in a 2-1 win. Away from home the majority result are defeats with 4 so far from 8 games played and this includes losing their last two in a row which have come against Arsenal and Chelsea, their last away win came against Nottingham Forest just over three weeks ago.
Team News:
Crystal Palace: Joel Ward will be assessed for his hamstring but the injury isn’t thought to be too serious. Rob Holding won’t return for another month with an ankle injury. The following players remain out long term; Sam Johnstone, Jefferson Lerma, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Odsonne Edouard and Chiek Doucoure have been ruled out for the season with an Achilles injury.
Brighton: Ansu Fati is missing for at least two months with a muscle injury, Joel Veltman could be assessed for a recent knee injury. Adam Webster, Solomon March, Pervis Estupinan, Julio Enciso and Tariq Lamptey are all out and all have no fixed return dates.
Crystal Palace vs Brighton Head to Head:
Last season this fixture finished in a 1-1 draw and in fact 4 of the last six meetings have ended in this same scoreline.
No team has won this fixture since 2019 when Crystal Palace have been at home because of the draws, and it’s been five years since Palace won at home in this fixture.
There is a 70% chance to see under 2.5 goals.
Crystal Palace vs Brighton Prediction:
Recently this has been a meeting that has been very equal but the question will be asked is the draw away to Manchester City going to have a positive effect on Palace who, let's be clear, have been one of the poorest sides in the league in recent form. Brighton are lacking consistency and when we take one look at the h2h a draw screams out and so does a correct score of 1-1. It is a risky choice of course so instead we will believe that Hodgson has been able to rally his players around, the draw against City would have felt like a great victory and now playing in front of their home fans you sense there is a feeling that Palace can get the three points. Both sides are suffering from too many long term injuries so we won’t be backing this to be a classic with goals.
Crystal Palace vs Brighton Betting Tips:
Double chance (Crystal Palace or draw) at 1.68
Anytime goalscorer: Jean-Philippe Mateta at 3.00
Under 2.5 goals at 1.91
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