Crystal Palace vs Everton prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2023-04-21 14:00.
Eyebrows were certainly raised when Roy Hodgson came out of retirement and returned to the helm at Crystal Palace, yet three wins from three games in charge and all against Premier League (PL) relegation rivals has pretty much sealed the Eagles' survival. They finished the last round nine points clear of danger and now have the chance to register four straight league wins for the first time since June 2020.
Hodgson’s biggest influence in this short space of time has been finding a way to unleash the attacking potential that this Palace team has had caged for much of the campaign. Under him, the Eagles have scored nine PL goals, which is as many as they had scored in their 16 PL games prior. They have also registered 57 shots across their last three outings which is just two fewer than they’d accumulated in the eight combined games before he arrived.
That attacking efficiency will strike fear into the hearts of an Everton side who have conceded 2+ goals in six straight PL away games (D2, L4). They’re likely to arrive at Selhurst Park low on confidence after a morale-damaging 3-1 home defeat to mid-table Fulham last week too, a result that left them outside the bottom three on goal difference alone.
Results going their way kept the Toffees out of the relegation zone despite that defeat, but luck may not be on their side again in this round. A positive result feels a necessity but two successive competitive defeats away to Crystal Palace – having gone undefeated in the ten H2Hs there prior – suggests this part of Southeast London might not be the happy hunting ground it once was.
Players to watch: Palace’s Eberechi Eze had scored just one goal in 2023 before Hodgson arrived, but he has now netted three times across his last two matches. Dwight McNeil’s strike against Fulham made him Everton’s joint-top scorer (four) and one of those efforts came in the 3-0 reverse victory back in October.
Hot streak: The last five H2H competitive meetings have all produced a goal beyond the 80th minute.