Crystal Palace and Bournemouth will clash at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night in the Premier League as both look to kickstart their seasons.
The Eagles are coming off of a surprise 2-0 away win against Burnley at the weekend. The victory ended a five-match winless streak in the league. Bournemouth, on the other hand, are on a three-game losing streak with their latest loss coming at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur 3-2.
Bournemouth’s 3-2 scoreline against Tottenham Hotspur flattered them greatly. They were down 3-0 before mounting a second-half comeback thanks to two goals from on-loan Liverpool player Harry Wilson.
Eddie Howe maybe losing matches at Bournemouth, but that has not stopped him from becoming Everton’s top-choice to takeover for manager Marco Silva. The Everton boss could be sacked this week after an agonising defeat to Leicester City on Sunday. Everton will face Liverpool on Wednesday night.
For now, Howe is still in charge and needs to lead Bournemouth to a win against an inconsistent Crystal Palace. Just four points separate Bournemouth with the relegation zone going into midweek play.
Crystal Palace’s home form has been poor of late. The Eagles have lost three straight home matches being outscored 6-1. Those losses did come against Manchester City, Leicester City, and Liverpool. Just eight points from 21 have been obtained at home.
Bournemouth have been equally bad away from home and go to Selhurst Park winless in their last four road fixtures. Bournemouth have taken just seven of 21 points on their travels with their last two road games finishing in losses. They were outscored 5-3 during that two-match run.
Howe does have history on his side as Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last six matches against Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Only two of those six matches, however, ended in wins. Crystal Palace have won just twice in those eight meetings with Bournemouth.
Striker Josh King is ruled out of the match for Bournemouth with a thigh strain. King has scored three league goals for Bournemouth. Charlie Daniels, Junior Stanislas and David Brooks are also ruled out for the Cherries.
Crystal Palace are without Joel Ward due to a knee injury that should keep him out for all of December. Meanwhile, Gary Cahill and Scott Dann are likely to miss out due to knee injuries of their own.
These two sides are struggling for consistent form and based on history, a score draw is likely on Tuesday night. Four of their eight previous meetings in the league ended in draws with three of those seeing both teams score.