Football – England – Premier League
Monday 3rd November 2014 – Kickoff: 2000hrs
Crystal Palace will look to build upon their well earned point at West Brom last weekend when they host fellow strugglers Sunderland at Selhurst Park on Monday night.
Palace held West Brom to an entertaining 2-2 draw at The Hawthorns last Saturday but The Eagles will be wondering about what could have been as they held what seemed a commanding 2-0 lead at half-time.
But The Baggies fought back to grab an unlikely point and it’s a case of as you were at the bottom end of the Premiership for Palace who are two places but just one point above the bottom three and tonight’s opponents Sunderland. Crystal Palace have produced some mixed results of late with back-to-back wins over Everton (away) and Leicester City (home), but then suffered back-to-back defeats to Hull City and Chelsea, before the point against West Brom.
At Selhurst Park, Palace hold a record of 1-1-2 4/5 with their sole win being over Leicester City, but they know that even a point tonight could see them jump above Aston Villa should they lose at home to Tottenham on Sunday evening.
Despite losing at home to Arsenal 0-2 last weekend, The Black Cats shored things up to a certain degree following their horrific 0-8 slating at Southampton the week before, and manager Gus Poyet was satisfied with the team’s efforts against The Gunners.
Tonight they travel down to London to take on Crystal Palace who they will see as a side they can compete on a more level field with as they also reside in the bottom quarter of the division.
Prior to the Southampton nightmare, Sunderland had lost just twice in the eight matches beforehand, which included five draws and a 3-1 win over Stoke City at their Stadium of Light. Away from home, Sunderland possess an overall record of 0-2-2 2/11 with goalscoring being their most obvious problem so far this season, particularly on their travels.
The Black Cats have failed to score in their last three away matches, but you get the feeling that if they can keep things tight at Selhurst Park tonight, they could hold on for a point here which would be considered a good result. With Crystal Palace’s inconsistent home form also thrown into the mix, I reckon the draw represents the best value for this fixture – could actually be a 0-0 stalemate, sorry folks!
Pick: Draw @ 3.50 bet365
