Crystal Palace vs Middlesbrough
English Premier League
Date: Saturday, 25th February 2017
Kick off at 15:00 UK/ 16:00 CET
Venue: Selhurst Park, London.
Palace currently sit second from bottom, level on points with basement boys Sunderland, whilst their opponents are three places above the Eagles – but only three points separate the two sides.
Allardyce is still looking for his second win as Crystal Palace manager since taking over from Alan Pardew in December, whilst Aitor Karanka will be looking for a positive result to ease any worries.
See below for The Boot Room’s comprehensive preview of a critical relegation clash on Saturday.
Recent Form
For Allardyce’s side, only the solitary win in eleven league matches has sent alarm bells ringing at Selhurst Park, leaving the Eagles in serious danger of Premier League relegation.
A damaging 4-0 defeat at the hands of Sunderland, alongside defeat at Swansea, has seen Palace gift points to their relegation rivals lately, and Allardyce will be hoping to avoid this again on Saturday.
The visitors, however, are also currently on a huge slide down the Premier League table as a run of eight league matches without a win has seen them dragged into a relegation dogfight.
This run, which includes four losses, has seen Aitor Karanka’s side only find the back of the net three times – a huge worry for Middlesbrough supporters ahead of a testing battle for survival.
Newly-promoted Middlesbrough did manage a morale-boosting victory against League One Oxford United last time out, however, securing their spot in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and Karanka will hope this cup run can inspire his side and act as a turning point in their Premier League campaign.
Team News
For the home side, centre-back Scott Dann is set to remain on the sideline after failing to recover from a hamstring injury in time, so James Tomkins is likely to retain his place in the side.
There are no fresh injury concerns for Sam Allardyce, however, and it is expected that he will name an unchanged starting eleven from Crystal Palace’s 1-0 loss at Stoke a fortnight ago.
Middlesbrough defender George Friend could be in line for a return to the side after recovering from a calf strain, whilst it is expected that Karanka will return to the side that drew with Everton at the Riverside Stadium in their last Premier League clash – despite making six changes for Oxford last weekend.
The only change is that Adlene Guedioura could come in for Adam Forshaw in midfield after impressing against the League One side on Saturday, in a like-for-like swap in the middle of the park.
Crystal Palace vs Middlesbrough: Head-to-head stats
Palace defeated Karanka’s team in the away leg of the current season by a 2-1 margin. This earned the team from London back-to-back wins over Boro after having won the previous fixture by a 4-1 margin.
At Selhurt Park, Palace won in 4 of the last 5 matches, while Middlesbrough egde a win in their trip here on 2011.
Crystal Palace vs Middlesbrough: Predictions
There is a general thought that this will be a low scoring match. An assumption drawn from Boro’s defensive mentality this season. But, we believe this game will see plenty of goal.
This is a 6-pointer for both teams and therefore we will witness a fairly open attacking game. I am pretty unsure regarding who wins this tie at the end of 90 minutes. It will be wise not to take a risk here as both sides are in extremely poor state.
Crystal Palace vs Middlesbrough: Bet Tips
Over 2.5 goals at 2.40 (7/5).