Everton vs Crystal Palace prediction: ENGLAND: FA Cup betting tips on match 2024-01-16 19:45.
Everton have bounced back from a rollercoaster December in which they won four straight games before losing the next four in succession by grinding out two successive 0-0 draws. The most recent came against high-flying Aston Villa in league action on Sunday, while the first was against opponents here Crystal Palace, setting up this FA Cup third-round replay. However, any feel-good factor ahead of the clash has quickly evaporated with the news that the Toffees have breached Premier League profitability and sustainability regulations again, meaning they could face a further points deduction.
Sean Dyche’s side are already battling against a ten-point deduction relating to spending across the 2021/22 season, meaning this decision is sure to hand the club a huge psychological blow. In the immediate though, they will have to dust themselves down and focus on progression in this competition, and a record of four wins from their last four FA Cup home replays should at least inspire a small amount of confidence coming into the clash.
The way the winter break has fallen for the away side means that they’ve not kicked a ball since failing to see off ten-man Everton nearly two weeks ago. Manager Roy Hodgson will most likely see that as a blessing as he looks to try and get key players back from injury and hit the reset button after playing out a run of just one win from their past ten competitive matches (D4, L5).
Palace haven’t been involved in any form of FA Cup replay in seven years, while they’ve been eliminated at this stage of the competition in three of their last four campaigns. That, plus their record of no away win at Goodison Park in eight attempts across all competitions, explains why they head to Merseyside as underdogs here.
Key battle: Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré had a late goal ruled out for offside in his return from a five-game injury layoff on Sunday and he also scored against Palace in November’s H2H win. Opponent Eberechi Eze netted his side’s first of the game in that same clash and was also on target in their last league win over Brentford.
Hot stat: Everton scored exactly three goals in three of their last four home H2Hs, winning each.