Crystal Palace welcome West Bromwich Albion to Selhurst Park in a mid Saturday afternoon Premier League clash.
Should Leeds lose on Saturday lunchtime, victory would see Palace rise to 11th whilst West Brom can move to within five points of survival with a win.
Team News
Crystal Palace have no fresh injury concerns to report after a 4-1 defeat at Tottenham last weekend.
James McCarthy (groin), Nathaniel Clyne, James McArthur, Tyrick Mitchell (all muscle), Wayne Hennessey, Mamadou Sakho, Nathan Ferguson (all thigh) and James Tomkins (eye) remain absent.
West Brom have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad available for selection.
Stat Attack
- Crystal Palace are unbeaten in four of their last five league meetings against West Brom (W3, D1, L1).
- West Brom have won just two of six previous Premier League trips to Selhurst Park (W2, L4).
- Palace’s Wilfried Zaha has scored three goals in his last two league appearances against West Brom.
- Semi Ajayi’s two Premier League goals for West Brom this season have both come from headers.
- No Palace player has had more shots on target than Christian Benteke who has fired 18 shots on target in 21 league appearances.
Prediction
Palace come into this game off the back of a poor defensive effort in their 4-1 defeat at Tottenham last Sunday, but one positive is that they took rare chances well which should give them mental encouragement in this game which they should be able to attack more.
West Brom meanwhile really got lucky with a point against Newcastle because they often rode their luck with a high defensive line, despite making excellent recoveries yet wasted several chances up the other end which are looking costly as the season’s conclusion draws ever closer.
I therefore expect to see serious improvement from both teams otherwise this could well be a scrappy contest that comes down to defensive cleanliness, which Palace should have the edge if that is the case.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-0 West Brom
Result: Crystal Palace 1-0 West Brom
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