The Premier League weekend concludes with the Monday Night Football this week and it comes from Selhurst Park where Crystal Palace play host to Leeds United in what should be an entertaining contest if both play to their best.
Technically both of these sides are still in danger of dropping down to the Championship but Leeds are in greater danger than their opponents. The winners here will be able to play out the rest of the season without too much pressure on them which will be the desired aim here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown in full on the Monday Night Football programme. That gets underway at 7pm with the kick off at Selhurst Park coming at 8pm.
Crystal Palace
This is a much better side to watch than the ones which preceded it at Selhurst Park but a couple of defeats on the spin since the FA Cup semi-final has meant that there is no discernible change in terms of their league position so I would imagine Patrick Vieira and his men will be keen to pick up a win here and address that situation. We can allow them their two defeats because the disappointment of a Wembley loss can linger and also they were at Leicester and Newcastle so aren’t terrible results.
Palace will be pleased that they are at home in this match. Only four teams have left this part of London with all three points this season with those being Chelsea, West Ham, Liverpool and Aston Villa. Chelsea needed a late goal to win at Palace while West Ham and Liverpool were on fire at the time. That should give Palace some confidence and they will know they will be able to create chances in this match. It is just whether they can take enough of them to get a result.
Leeds United
Leeds United head to the capital having picked up 10 points from the last 12 which was available to them. You can easily make a case that they haven’t played anyone in that time. The toughest team they have played in that time in terms of league position were Wolverhampton Wanderers and they found themselves two goals down to them before Wolves had a man sent off so there is even an asterisk next to that victory.
One thing Leeds do offer since Marcelo Bielsa has left is a more organised approach. There is no leaving themselves exposed when they attack anymore and while you can question whether the quality of their players is good enough to remain in this league, just being setup better will give them every chance. They don’t seem to have been impacted in terms of their attacking play despite a slightly more pragmatic approach so on paper they look better off.
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Team News
Crystal Palace will monitor the fitness of Michael Olise after he appeared to pick up an injury at Newcastle last week. Luka Milivojevic is back in training but this game might come too soon for him. Nathan Ferguson is definitely out.
Leeds United pair Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts are nearing a return to action but this match will come too soon for both of them. The Yorkshire side will be without Adam Forshaw too as a fractured knee cap has ruled him out of the remainder of the season.
Betting
I like this version of Crystal Palace but I’m not sure I can rely on them with their current form, although Selhurst Park is a tough place to go and I do still think they can play with some freedom because although they are not safe yet, they are in no immediate danger of getting relegated at the same time. Leeds are in more danger but there doesn’t appear to be too much that shackles them. I’m just not convinced they are a standout obvious winner here.
That makes me look to the goals for this game and there should be a number of those. Leeds might not have beaten much under Jesse Marsch but they have scored six goals in their last two away matches which merits respect. I still believe when someone takes the game to them though they will be vulnerable and we can certainly expect Palace to do that. This is one of those games where if either scored three times I wouldn’t be at all surprised so I like over 2.5 goals here.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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