Ninth place Everton hosts 14th place Crystal Palace on Saturday in a fixture that conveys just how congested the Premier League table really is. The two sides, five slots apart in the standings, are separated by just three points. For this time of the year, to see that, is rare.
The Toffees, in a relegation scrap until they sacked Marco Silva and replaced him with Carlo Ancelotti, are in the mix for a Europa League qualification slot now. Over the last 12 months Everton has lost just three home games, so so they have made Goodison Park a bit of a fortress. Palace lost their last two trips here, so it’s easy to see why the odds and prediction makers are not backing the south London side in this one.
Form Guide: Everton WDDWL Crystal Palace LLDDD
Starting XI Predictions:
Crystal Palace- Guaita; Ward, Tomkins, Cahill, Van Aanholt; Ayew, Kouyaté, Milivojevic, McArthur, Zaha; Benteke
Everton- Pickford; Sidibe, Mina, Holgate, Digne; Walcott, Sigurdsson, Schneiderlin, Iwobi; Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin
Everton FC vs Crystal Palace FYIs
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Kickoff: Sat. Feb 8, 12:30pm, Goodison Park
TV/Streaming: BT Sport 1/ BT Sports App
Series History: Crystal Palace wins 13, Draws 17, Everton wins 20
Odds via Sports Bet: Crystal Palace wins 5.5, Draws 3.75, Everton wins 1.57
Result probabilities: Crystal Palace win 16% Draw 25%, Everton win 59%
Referee: David Coote
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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