Prediction and odds for the game: Aston Villa (10/11) vs Crystal Palace (11/4)
We are backing the home win
When: Saturday, 26th December 2020, Kick-off 15:00
Where: Villa Park
On Boxing Day, Aston Villa host Crystal Palace at Villa Park, as the home side look to continue a promising recent run of form in the Premier League.
Aston Villa
The Villans have experienced a rollercoaster of a league campaign. However, Dean Smith’s team heads into this clash on the back of a three-game unbeaten run in the English top-flight, having recorded two wins in the process. Last time out in the Premier League the home side recorded a 3-0 win at Midlands rivals West Brom.
The win saw Villa keep a third straight clean sheet in the Premier League. No goalkeeper has kept more Premier League clean sheets this season than Villa number one Emiliano Martinez. The Argentinian is proving to be a bargain buy for Villa.
A poor run of form before their three-game unbeaten run saw Villa drop to ninth-place in the table. However, the Villans have games in-hand on many of the teams above them. If they can maintain their current run of form then a surprise challenge for a top-six spot cannot be ruled out.
There is one negative for Villa of late in their home form in the English top-flight, as they have failed to win in four league matches at Villa Park, suffering three defeats in the process.
Crystal Palace
The Eagles go into this game on the back of a 7-0 home thrashing by reigning English champions Liverpool. The defeat means that Roy Hodgson team has now won just one of their last six Premier League matches. The visitors will be confident of avoiding a slide towards the relegation zone, as they are eight points clear of the bottom three. They have to start winning games, though.
One of Palace’s main problems this season has been in defence, as the Eagles head into this clash having kept just one clean sheet in the English top-flight. Only Leeds and West Brom have conceded more top-flight goals this season. However, that defensive record is greatly skewed by that aforementioned mauling by Liverpool.
Palace have an inconsistent recent away record in the Premier League, as they have taken four points from their last two games on their travels. However, the visitors have also won just once in their last four away games in the top-flight.
Conclusion
Villa seem to be mounting another head of steam after some decent results of late. We are backing Dean Smith’s team to record a victory to maintain that positive recent momentum. We are also going to back under 2.5 goals, as Villa have looked solid defensively of late, while Palace will be determined to tighten up at the back after their defensive horror show against Liverpool.
Verdict: We are backing the home win at odds of 10/11 and/or under 2.5 goals scored at evens. (All odds are taken from Bet365).
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Who will come out on top at Villa Park?
