Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth

Selhurst Park is the venue as Crystal Palace and Bournemouth go head-to-head in a bottom-half Premier League encounter.

Crystal Palace fought back from a narrow halftime deficit to hold fellow London rivals West Ham to a 1-1 draw at the weekend, putting an unconvincing end to a two-game losing league streak. However, Palace’s dire form has seen them win just once in their last seven Premier League matches (D2, L4), netting under 1.5 goals on five occasions. Perennial goalscoring woes continue to give veteran manager Roy Hodgson a sizeable headache, with only rock-bottom Sheffield United (11) bagging fewer goals than the ‘Eagles’ (14) this season. No consolation comes from the fact Hodgson’s men have barely averaged a goal per game on home turf while they’re winless in four consecutive top-flight outings at Selhurst Park since late September (D2, L2), conceding 2+ goals in the last two.

In the meantime, Bournemouth spurned two separate leads in an action-packed 2-2 home draw against Aston Villa at the weekend, leaving under-pressure manager Andoni Iraola on the precipe of sacking. Stranded in the lower reaches since the start of the new campaign, the ‘Cherries’ can draw confidence from racking up three wins across their last five league games (D1, L1), with each triumph seeing them score multiple goals. Six points clear of 18th-placed Everton, the visitors have some breathing space, yet unless they can build on a 3-1 battering of Sheffield United on their last travel, things could go south soon. Bournemouth’s underwhelming away form has seen them lose four of their six Premier League fixtures on the road this term (W1, D1), ominously conceding 3+ goals in each defeat.