Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace Preview: Team News & Prediction
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AFC Bournemouth have been magnificent to watch under Andoni Iraola and they are sustaining a European charge this season as they now welcome Crystal Palace down to the south coast.
Kick-off date/time: Thursday 26th December, 2024: UK – 3:00pm / US ET – 10:00am / US PT – 7:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – USA Network
How to watch online: UK – Amazon Prime / US – Peacock
Bournemouth Preview: Excellent Cherries
Andoni Iraola, with his intense and entertaining style of football, has his AFC Bournemouth side sitting just outside of the UEFA Champions League spots and they hammered Manchester United by three goals to nil at Old Trafford for the second successive season at the weekend.
In that game, Bournemouth took a first-half lead via Dean Huijsen before a Justin Kluivert penalty and then a strike from Antoine Semenyo in the second-half. The Cherries have now collected 13 points from their last five matches in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace Preview: Inconsistent Eagles
Oliver Glasner has proven himself to be an excellent coach and Crystal Palace’s performances have been better than their results have suggested so far this season as they hover just above the bottom three and the relegation places with three wins in their 17 games so far.
The Eagles come into this one on the back of a 5-1 annihilation at the hands of Arsenal at Selhurst Park at the weekend. Gabriel Jesus notched a brace with goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice after Ismaila Sarr had equalised early on in that game.
Bournemouth Team News: A few minor ‘niggles’
Andoni Iraola was able to confirm that Bournemouth have no major fresh injury concerns or suspension issues for this one but there were some ‘niggles’ after Old Trafford. Key men such as Marcos Senesi, Alex Scott and Marcus Tavernier remain unavailable.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Kepa; Aarons, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Adams, Christie; Semenyo, Kluivert, Ouattara; Evanilson
Unavailable: Senesi (Injured), Araujo (Injured), Scott (Injured), Tavernier (Injured), Sinisterra (Injured)
Questionable: Smith (Injured)
Crystal Palace Team News: Munoz returns
Key wing-back Daniel Munoz has returned from a one-match suspension ahead of the trip down to the Vitality Stadium. They do remain without some key men, though, such as Adam Wharton with Eberechi Eze also now a key injury doubt for the visitors.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Clyne, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta
Unavailable: Wharton (Injured), Franca (Injured), Umeh-Chibueze (Injured)
Questionable: Holding (Out of favour), Riad (Injured), Eze (Injured)
Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace Prediction
With the top five likely to be enough to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, AFC Bournemouth are going to push for the top five this season with their intense and entertaining style of football. They now face a Crystal Palace side that have key injury absentees and have lacked the same amount of cohesion as last season with Bournemouth the favourites for this one, especially with their home advantage.
Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace Tip: Double chance – Bournemouth to win or draw
