England Premier League
Saturday 12th September 2020
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Selhurst Park
Match Preview:
The only 3pm Saturday kick off will take place between Crystal Palace and Southampton as both clubs look to improve their standings from last season.
It is widely expected that Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson could be entering his final season as a manager in football or at least with Palace. Hodgson will be 74 when his contract ends, and he will be looking to bow out on a high with the Eagles.
Last season Palace finished 14th but for most of the second half of the season they never looked like being involved in the relegation battle and in fact finished 9 points above 18th. There were highs and lows but the club never really got a footing in the season and just remained tough to score against at times, but still ended up losing 17 games.
The Eagles biggest purchase of the summer so far has been to bring in Eberechi Eze from QPR for £16m. For now they also get to keep Wilfried Zaha who has been rumoured to leave the club ever since he rejoined back in 2014. Pre-season saw the team play four games where they remained unbeaten winning three of them. Their last game ended at home drawing 1-1 with Swedes Brondby.
Southampton finished on 52 points last season where an average first half to the league season turned into a very consistant second half. The Saints lost Pierre-Emile Hojberg to Tottenham but did capture Kyle-Walker Peters from the same club, both deals went undisclosed. Southampton have bought just two players so far in the window which doesn’t close until October 5th this year and both have been defenders.
The Saints have played just one pre-season friendly which ended in an emphatic 7-1 victory over Swansea. Both Danny Ings and James Ward-Prowse bagged a brace.
Team News:
Crystal Palace: Christian Benteke has a cracked bone in his foot and looks set to miss this game. Gary Cahill in injured from last season with his hamstring. Nathan Ferguson looks out with a knee injury. New signing Eberechi Eze has a slight groin injury and is being rested but could start the new campaign. Patrick Van Aanholt is out with shoulder dislocation
Southampton: The Saints have no injury concerns coming into this game at present
Crystal Palace vs Southampton Head to Head:
Last season Southampton won this fixture 2-0.
Crystal Palace have failed to beat Southampton in their last 3 games when being at home with their last win coming in 2016.
There is a 60% chance to see under 2.5 goals.
Southampton have won the last two games at Selhurst Park by the same score line of 2-0.
Crystal Palace vs Southampton Prediction:
Southampton finished the season well, and if they can find that type of form and carry it over to this one they will be a team aiming for a top 10 place. The worry for Palace is that at times last season they lost their home presence to intimiadate teams and that could be made worse with no fans in attendance. Their injury list is very worrying and keeps growing, and that could also be a factor here. Southampton have no major concerns and have a good recent record coming here so we are going to back the Saints to get all three points and begin the season in style, but we will also cover the draw in case Palace prove to be stubborn resistance.
Crystal Palace vs Southampton Betting Tips:
Draw no bet (Crystal Palace) at 1.61
Anytime goalscorer: Danny Ings at 2.10
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