Kick-off: 1500, 13/03/2021
Stadium: Selhurst Park
TV: Sky Sports
Crystal Palace will hope to have Wilfried Zaha back up to full speed for Saturday’s Premier League clash with West Brom at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles’ talismanic front man returned from injury as a half-time substitute at Tottenham last weekend and should be all the better for that blow-out.
He hit a double in December’s 5-1 away win over Albion and a fully-fit Zaha makes 11/10 for a home victory hard to resist as our first Crystal Palace vs West Brom prediction.
A Look At Crystal Palace’s Betting Odds
Palace found an in-form Spurs too strong when going down 4-1, but they were level at the break after Christian Benteke cancelled out Gareth Bale’s opener.
Benteke’s headed effort ended up one of the few positive moments for the Eagles, but Zaha’s reappearance may prove the best thing to come out of that game.
“I know Wilf as someone who is always fit and it’s rare when he picks up an injury,” Benteke told Premier League Productions.
“Now, with the 10 games left, we will need him. We will need his presence, his skills and his ability to score goals for us.
“We know all the end games are always tough because the teams are playing for Champions League or (to avoid) relegation, so it won’t be easy, but I think we’ve got the squad to look up and win games.”
Palace had previously pulled nicely clear of the drop zone during a decent run of results.
They claimed three wins in five games before drawing with Manchester United and Fulham.
Roy Hodgson’s men have done well against teams in the bottom half of the table, beating Sheffield United, Wolves, Newcastle and Brighton since the turn of the year.
Three of those victories were by the narrowest of margins, though, so 5/2 for the Eagles to oblige by one goal again appeals from the Crystal Palace vs West Brom odds.
Last Palace line-up: Guaita, Ward, Van Aanholt, Cahill, Milivojevic, Kouyate, Townsend, Eze, Riedewald, Ayew, Benteke.
Palace remain without Nathaniel Clyne (muscle), James Tomkins (eye), Mamadou Sakho (thigh), Tyrick Mitchell (muscle), James McCarthy (groin) and James McArthur (calf), while Nathan Ferguson is training with the Under-23s after his thigh injury.
A Look At West Bromwich Albion’s Betting Odds
West Brom deserve plenty of credit for the way they have been fighting for survival, losing just one of their last five matches – and that was only a 1-0 defeat by Everton.
However, Sunday’s goalless stalemate with Newcastle at The Hawthorns was a third draw during that period and the Baggies need more than that to avoid the drop.
Being held by the injury-hit Magpies left Albion effectively nine points from safety with 10 matches left, due to an awful goal difference.
Celta Vigo loanee Okay Yokuslu told the club’s official site: “The feeling is that we have missed an opportunity.
“It was a very important game for us and it hurts that we haven’t won it.
“Everyone in the dressing room is sad because we desperately wanted three points.
“We had chances and we should have won the game, in my opinion. I think we played well and I think we were the much better team.
“We cannot change the result now. We have to stay positive and stay focused on trying to get out of trouble.”
Three clean sheets in four games is a plus, but Sam Allardyce admitted there is a growing need to chase victories and we fear that could leave the Baggies more vulnerable at the back.
Let’s finish off our Crystal Palace vs West Brom betting tips by taking 4/1 for the scores to be level at half-time and then the hosts to win.
Last West Brom line-up: Johnstone, Furlong, Bartley, Townsend, O’Shea, Phillips, Gallagher, Maitland-Niles, Yokuslu, Pereira, Diagne.
Winger Grady Diangana is hoping to feature after missing two games through illness. Robert Snodgrass is doubtful as he waits to learn the full extent of an unspecified injury sustained this week in training.
Additional stats
Last result:
Tottenham 4-1 CRYSTAL PALACE – Christian Benteke
WEST BROM 0-0 Newcastle
Head-to-head: West Brom 1-5 Palace, West Brom 0-3 Palace, Palace 2-0 West Brom, West Brom 0-0 Palace
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