England Premier League
Saturday 10th August 2019
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Selhurst Park
Match Preview:
Crystal Palace and Everton were locked in talks to bring Wilfried Zaha to Goodison Park but the attacking winger will remain with the Eagles after talks and a transfer fee broke down, and now the two teams will meet each other in the opening weekend of the league.
Roy Hodgson’s team had a poor pre season run in losing 5 of their 8 games which included defeats against Barnet 6-2, Young Boys 2-0, and Hertha Berlin 4-0.
The club have opted for some experience and the connection with Everton was reignited when they signed James McCarthy. Gary Cahill from Chelsea has come in as a free transfer and Jordan Ayew cost the club £2.5m from Swansea. Victor Camarasa has been brought in on loan. Keeping Zaha for now is an obvious bonus for a club who may struggle this season.
Hodgson decided to release a number of players and the clubs biggest loss was Aaron Wan-Bissaka who joined Manchester United for £50m, although that could be classed as a fantastic bit of business for a right back.
Everton had a decent season under Marco Silva but there were periods when the club struggled. Although there was very encouraging signs in the last couple of months and the team will be proud that they were the last team to take points from Liverpool, which ultimately denied them the league title.
The Toffeemen had an average pre season losing against Sevilla and Mainz but did beat Monaco 1-0. The majority of games ended in draws. Perhaps the most worrying sign was seeing the club score just 3 goals in their 7 matches. However that could all be set to change up front as they captured Moise Kean from Juventus in a deal believed to be under £30m which could be one of the best bargains of the window. Kean is young and when he was given his chance for Juventus at the end of the season, he scored goals and was a real menace.
Andre Gomes who played on loan last season was permenently signed for £22m and the club have also swooped for Alex Iwobi of Arsenal and Fabian Delph from Manchester City. Jean-Phillipe Gbamin could be a very good signing from Mainz and the experienced Djibril Sidibe comes in on loan from Monaco.
The club have released 17 players and got £14m from the sale of Nikola Vlasic. But also gone are Ademola Lookman, and Idrissa Gueye will be a miss for the club, who was sold to PSG.
Team News:
Crystal Palace: Mamadou Sakho has a good chance to return to the first team after his injury last season
Everton: Leighton Baines has a knock but has been training and it will be a late decision to see if he is included in the team. Fabian Delph is out after injuring his groin in a friendly game
Crystal Palace vs Everton Head to Head:
The teams met at this ground only in April when the game ended 0-0.
Crystal Palace haven’t beaten Everton in any competition since 2014.
There is a 70% chance to see under 2.5 goals.
Crystal Palace vs Everton Prediction:
Even though Palace have kept Zaha the story that there is friction between the player and board is not good news. Palace showed a lot of mental strength in the second half of the season and finished well but they did struggle at times and there is a feeling they could struggle even more this season.
Everton look like they need to up their pre-season tempo but have a good history over Palace and have a chance to win this game as long as Silva deploys an attacking choice which may be able to help the team control the pace of the game. Palace’s confidence could be under question if Everton were to open the scoring early. Since it’s the first game of the season there is risk involved here with no form to look at but we will back Everton to win this duel.
Crystal Palace vs Everton Betting Tips:
Everton to beat Crystal Palace at 2.40
Anytime goalscorer: Moise Kean at 3.00
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