Football Preview | Crystal Palace v Bournemouth

A potentially fascinating encounter between two surprise packages

Palace welcome Bournemouth in what promises to be a clash between two sides chasing a top-six finish as the Premier League resumes.

Author | Ajay

Stadium | Selhurst Park

Pre match at Palace v Liverpool

It has been a remarkable few months for Crystal Palace. They have won the FA Cup and Community Shield and were unbeaten until their defeat in the last Premier League match before the international break.

Last time out for Palace

Despite taking the lead, Palace suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 2-1 against Everton.

After the match, Alex told London Super News: “Three points gone begging. The first half was full of missed opportunities, and it became a familiar pattern. Disappointing from Jean-Philippe Mateta, who continues to struggle in front of goal. Maybe this will serve as a timely reminder for the team. The one positive is that we still sit in the top six.”

David added: “Echoing previous sentiments, Palace were largely impressive, but a costly error and some poor officiating did us no favours. The number of times Adam Wharton was harshly penalised bordered on the absurd.”

Team news

With Yeremy Pino and Pape Sarr both overcoming minor concerns to feature against Everton, Palace are expected to be without only Cheick Doucoure, Caleb Kporha and Chadi Riad for the visit of Bournemouth, with Riad also potentially returning soon.

Adam Wharton’s recent omission from the England squad caused some discontent among fans, but Palace may have welcomed Thomas Tuchel’s latest selection, leaving the 21-year-old fit and eager for the resumption of domestic football.

A look at the opposition

Bournemouth suffered a defeat to Liverpool on the opening day but have steadily climbed the table since. They have allowed more than one goal in a match only once since that loss and have conceded the same number of goals in their last six games as they did against the Reds. Their last match before the international break was a 3-1 home win against Fulham.

Pre match at Bournemouth 3 - 1 Liverpool

Some key stats and facts ahead of the match

Crystal Palace have failed to score in each of their last four Premier League games against Bournemouth (D2 L2). The only side the Eagles have ever gone 5+ consecutive games without a goal against in the competition are Tottenham Hotspur (7 from August 2016 to September 2019).

Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League home games (W5 D4), and have only twice before enjoyed a longer unbeaten home run in their top-flight history, going 10 without defeat from August to December 1979 and 17 without a loss from February to December 1990.

When taking into account only the first half of matches in the Premier League this season, Crystal Palace would be top of the league with 17 points (W5 D2). However, in second halves, the Eagles would have just seven points in seven games (W1 D4 L2), and would be 14th in a second-half table.