Premier League: Can the Eagles Get One Over the Toffees?

Crystal Palace vs Everton

The long wait is almost over as the new season of the Premier League is about to commence on Friday night UK time.

Few days from now, Crystal Palace will host Everton at the Selhurst Park – a place where the host would want to win more games compared to last season.

Both of these clubs were at the middle of the table. Everton finished at the eighth spot while Crystal Palace finished 12^th. And with these teams looking to improve, expect some fast-paced action in what will add some of the best Premier League 2019 highlights.

Allow SBOBET to give a glimpse on these two teams ahead of Saturday’s match.

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Talking Points

Where will Wilfried Zaha go?

Wilfried Zaha’s future destination has been quite a conundrum for Crystal Palace, especially when he announced his intentions to leave the club last season.

While the Eagles would like to keep him by trying to meet his bid, Zaha looks to have made up his mind on further advancing his budding career. The Ivory Coast-based forward is rumoured to possibly move to Everton, after a missed pursuit by Arsenal.

The 26-year-old skipper helped the Eagles’ cause in the last few years, as he emerged as the club’s main attacking threat. Replacing his unparalleled athleticism, touch, and movement won’t be an easy task for Roy Hodgson.

With or without Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend will do much of the heavy lifting on offence. But it all remains to be seen on whether he can step up his play consistently this season.

Can Marco Silva bring the Toffees to new heights?

Everton has been a steady team over the last few seasons, as they remain a constant presence lurking outside of the top six.

Marco Silva, who was signed by Goodison Park last year, will have another opportunity to build further on the team’s foundation after an okay showing in their last campaign.

“The feeling of our fans and players enjoying what we are doing is everything I want as a manager,” said Silva last April in a match against Manchester United.

Everton are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League clash with Crystal Palace — Marco Silva looking determined to start his season in good form

The Portuguese manager loves to go on the offensive, with attacking and pressing as his main points of emphasis. Perhaps that’s the main reason on why he wanted to keep the trio of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Andre Gomes, and Richarlison – who is due for a breakout this season.

Sigurdsson was a bright spot for Everton last season. He scored 13 goals and dished four assists in what was a very productive Premier League campaign for him.

Gomes and Richarlison both have chips on their shoulders as they try to prove their worth for Marco Silva. Both of these stalwarts are composed, and can control the ball well with their slick passing and dribbling.

Excitement continues to build for the Everton faithful, and rightfully so. They just have to keep it together and not be complacent to avoid any trouble.

Contrasting offseasons from both squads

Overall, the transfer window has been either a gift or a curse to Everton and Crystal Palace.

For Everton, signing Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph into long-term deals was a priority and they were successful in doing so. They’ve also pried away Italian youngster Moise Kean from Juventus to shore up their attack.

On the other hand, Crystal Palace only got to sign Jordan Ayew which was underwhelming to say the least. The 27-year-old made 20 top flight appearances for the Eagles last season following a loan from Swansea, but he only scored one goal.

Crystal Palace already lost star forward Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United, and for sure they can’t afford to add Wilfried Zaha to their losses in this transfer window.

History

Crystal Palace and Everton has faced each other 13 times total. The latter has won seven times while the former only won twice. Meanwhile, there have been six draws.

In their matchups, the teams scored an average of 2.3 goals per match – with Everton averaging 1.5 and Crystal Palace averaging 0.8.

It has been a one-sided affair between these two clubs as the Eagles’ last win against the Toffees dates back to September 21, 2014.

Betting Tip

	Crystal Palace vs Everton	Everton Asian Handicap +0.00 @1.73
	August 8, 22:00 (GMT+8)

Given their slew of new additions from top to bottom, the Toffees are sure to make some strides this season and it will start by getting a road win against the Eagles.

Everton is pegged at 2.44, while Crystal Palace are priced at 3.00 to kick off their respective campaigns.

Despite the higher Premier League 2019 odds for Everton in this fixture, they will have their work cut out for them as Crystal Palace will definitely lean on their home crowd to put up a good fight.

I have this game ending with a 2-1 win for the Marco Silva-mentored team.