Prediction & odds for the game: Crystal Palace (5/1) v Tottenham (11/20)

When: Sunday, 26th July @ 4pm K.O

Where: Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace will attempt to put the final nail in the coffin of Tottenham Hotspur’s European hopes when they meet on the final day.

Crystal Palace

It certainly feels as if the tenure of Roy Hodgson as Crystal Palace boss is slowly but surely coming to an end, if only because of the dreadful run they’ve been on as of late. You can also point towards their ageing squad as one of the key factors behind the Eagles’ demise, but either way, they’ll be hoping to finish the season on a strong note here. Whether or not they can overcome their lack of momentum remains to be seen, but they definitely need to show some kind of fight ahead of the new campaign.

The last month or so has been the definition of miserable for Palace fans, starting off with a narrow and uninspiring 1-0 defeat to Burnley. They went on to lose 3-0 to Leicester before narrowly being edged out by Chelsea, and from there, they lost another three games in eight days against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Wolves.

Tottenham

While this season will be ultimately judged as an overwhelming failure given what Spurs accomplished just over a year ago, Jose Mourinho is determined to prove that he is the man for the job in North London. There’s a whole lot of work that needs to be done both to their squad and behind the scenes during the transfer window, but firstly, they need to win this game to give themselves the best chance of qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.

For some reason, the 3-1 loss to Sheffield United served as the straw that broke the camel’s back for Tottenham. Since that game they haven’t lost, starting with a drab 1-0 win against Everton and an incredibly dull 0-0 draw with Bournemouth. They proceeded to beat Arsenal in the North London derby, beat Newcastle 3-1 and dismantle Leicester 3-0.

Conclusion

This one could get ugly in a hurry, if only because Palace just seem to have given up. Tottenham have something to actually fight for, and while seventh place could still serve as an entry point into European competition, they won’t want to take the risk. We think there’s a chance the hosts will be able to cause Spurs a few problems early on, but as the game moves into the latter stages, we imagine Tottenham will start to run away with it. From there, they just have to hope Chelsea can get a result against Wolves.

We do think there will be plenty of goals, as is usually the case on the final day, which is why we’re backing the over 2.5 goals market.

Verdict: Back the away win at odds of 11/20 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 8/11. (All odds are taken from bet365).

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