Crystal Palace v Brighton
Saturday 9th March 1500hrs
Football – England – Premier League
Pick Crystal Palace
Bookmaker Paddy Power
Odds: 5/6 (odds taken 19.30 GMT, Thursday 7th March)
Although not in the same city and a fair distance between them, Crystal Palace and Brighton supporters deem this to be a derby and there is little love lost. More pressingly for those involved, it will have an impact on the battle for survival.
Premier League Betting at Paddy Power
Crystal Palace Preview
Crystal Palace have begun to move away from the bottom three in recent weeks having put together a good run of form, their best period the season to date. It’s now just one defeat in their last six league games and that came against a resurgent Manchester United team in a match they could easily have gotten at least a draw from such was their performance. Roy Hodgson’s men are also making good progress in the FA Cup and have a quarter final against Watford to look forward to a week on Saturday. Before then, they have this crunch rivalry match to take car of first but there’s ni doubting they will approach it in confident mood. Last weekend’s 3-1 win away to Burnley was arguably their most important of the season to date as it was against another team battling it out to stay in the Premier League, and one who have been on a good run of their own of late. That valuable win leaves Palace in 13th spot with 33 points – eight clear of Cardiff who sit third bottom. Most would suggest that they have already done enough to secure their status for another year but Hodgson will just be looking to get to that magical 40 points mark and a win on Saturday would put them within touching distance of that
Key-Facts – Crystal Palace v Brighton
- Brighton won a memorable game the last time these teams met, victorious 3-1 with 10 men
- Wins for both last week have eased their relegation fears but there remains work to do
- Palace have lost just once in their last eight games, winning five of them
Brighton Preview
If Palace’s win away to Burnley last week was important, Brighton’s 1-0 success at home to bottom club Huddersfield was absolutely critical. It was the Seagulls’ first win in the league since the end of December – a run of eight matches in which they lost five of them. It resulted in them becoming much more involved in the battle to avoid the drop than we would have expected having had such an impressive start to the season. It was anything but an impressive performance over Huddersfield but Chris Hughton will not be bothered by that whatsoever as it has provided some much needed breathing space. Heading into Saturday’s clash with Palace, Brighton are five points ahead of Cardiff therefore can go level on points with their weekend opponents should they win. That in itself is not overly important, what is crucial is that it would allow them to edge closer to their own safety. Like Palace, they too have an FA Cup quarter-final to look forward to and it’s a presentable opportunity to reach the last four having been drawn away to Millwall.
Crystal Palace v Brighton Betting Advice
When these two last met it turned out to be one of the more stranger games of the season in the Premier League. Despite going down to 10 men early doors, Brighton turned in a magnificent performance to secure a 3-1 win over Palace and secure the bragging rights for their supporters at the same time. Hodgson said at the time it was a missed opportunity for his team and you sense that it’s one he will not have forgotten about ahead of Brighton visiting Selhurst Park on Saturday – one thing is for sure, the club’s supporters certainly won’t have forgotten it.
If you were to ask either manager what their priority would be for the remainder of the season then it would definitely be staying in the Premier League but I would suggest that both have done just about enough already, which makes the FA Cup that bit more attractive now they are both in the last eight. Palace have been much more consistent of late and approach this game in excellent goalscoring form. Brighton, for all that they beat Huddersfield, are still nowhere near their best. Palace have not been great at home throughout the season but they’ve not lost to this opponent at Selhurst since 2005 and with the confidence they are playing with, can take three points.
