THE Premier League festive fixtures continue on Thursday evening as Crystal Palace welcome Arsenal to Selhurst Park. Ben Levene (@BenLevene96) shares his best bets.
Crystal Palace v Arsenal | Thursday 28th December 2017, 19:45 | Sky Sports
Differing form
When Roy Hodgson took over on the 12th of September, Crystal Palace were without a point or a goal. As we approach the new year, his Palace side are now outside the relegation zone and are eight-games unbeaten.
Arsenal come into this game without a win in five. They’ve been in pretty poor nick on the road this season too. The Gunners have only won two of nine away games. One was at a struggling Everton, while the other was courtesy of a last-minute penalty at Burnley. They’ve lost at Stoke and Watford while they’ve drawn at Southampton and West Ham in their last two trips.
Palace have scored at least two goals in each of their last six games at Selhurst Park. They’re also unbeaten in those six games at home, which includes a win over Chelsea.
Palace can cause problems
As we’ve already established, this is a game between an in-form Palace and a vulnerable Arsenal. In the past, Arsene Wenger’s side have struggled against direct teams and in the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke, Hodgson has the minerals at his disposal to cause problems.
They beat Arsenal 3-0 at Selhurst Park back in April. Under the lights at an intimidating Selhurst Park, with the fans close to the pitch, they can make life tough for Arsenal again.
Side with Palace
I’m not keen on the odds-on prices around Arsenal, so siding with Palace looks the way to go. There are two ways to go about doing this. We can get Crystal Palace with a half on the Asian Handicap at 9/8 (Bet Victor), this sees a winner paid if they avoid defeat. The 37/19 (Unibet) about Over 1.5 Crystal Palace goals looks worth chancing too.
Best Bets
Crystal Palace v Arsenal – Crystal Palace +0.5 Asian Handicap (9/8 BetVictor)
Crystal Palace v Arsenal – Over 1.5 Crystal Palace goals (37/19 Unibet)
