Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2023-09-15 14:00.
Aston Villa will start a busy week, in which they make their much-anticipated UEFA Europa Conference League group stage debut against Legia Warsaw, by hosting Crystal Palace. It followed four up-and-down Premier League (PL) fixtures (W2, L2), the most recent of which was a 3-0 loss to Liverpool. Unai Emery said on that day his side didn’t “test their (best) performance”, so he’ll likely be expecting improvement when they return to action at Villa Park.
Their fans will also have high expectations as the Villans haven’t lost a home H2H since December 2013 (W4, D2) in addition to winning an impressive eight consecutive PL games here while only conceding twice – a sequence that began with a 1-0 win against Palace in March. Each of the last five of those victories saw the Midlands-based side ahead inside the opening 25 minutes, so another flying start could set them on their way again.
Palace will be well aware of the need to keep things tight early on, and as only one of two teams yet to score or concede before the 15th minute this term in the PL, the early stages of their games do tend to be uninspiring. However, as they are yet to register a first-half league goal this season, there’s a danger they might leave it too late to build on an excellent start to the campaign (W2, D1, L1).
That’s one of the reasons manager Roy Hodgson described the Eagles as “still very much a work in progress” after admitting they “weren’t good” in the first half against Wolves (W 3-2) just before the international break. A single win across their last five PL away games (D2, L2) – that against newly-promoted Sheffield United – while scoring just once before half-time rather proves his point.
Players to watch: Matty Cash has popped up as an unlikely goal threat for Villa, scoring three times across their last three competitive games, including twice inside the opening 20 minutes. Odsonne Édouard has netted three times across Palace’s four PL matches this term, twice opening the scoring after half-time.
Hot streak: Palace haven’t scored more than once in an away H2H since January 1962 (W3, D6, L16).