Football Results

Due to obligations of certain teams in the FA Cup only four matches of the 31st round of English Premier League will be played on Saturday and in the first of them we have duel between two teams positioned near bottom of the table as 15th-placed Huddersfield meets 18th-placed Crystal Palace, which has four points fewer at the moment. Both teams won by one head-of-head at the beginning of season; Huddersfield firstly won in the Premier League by 3-0 as guest, while Crystal Palace won at home 1-0 in the League Cup.

Huddersfield

Their third match this season carries far more weight given that now the two teams are direct competitors in the survival race. The home team is under a bit less pressure as it has four points more than 18^th-placed Crystal Palace eight rounds before the end of season. We need to add that the Terriers won even four points from last two home matches; they firstly won Bournemouth 4-1, while last weekend they played a goalless draw with Swansea.

Who ever watched the match cannot believe it had ended with such result as the home team was fully dominant in all segments of the game, and especially since 11 minute when one of Swansea’s players was sent off. However, ball possession of 81% and 30 shots on the Welsh goals wasn’t enough for Huddersfield to score, and now its fans hope that their team will be luckier this time with the Palace. Let’s add that due to injuries still out of action are defenders Hefele, Kongolo and Stankovic, and forward Kachunga.

Probable lineups Huddersfield: Lossl – Hadergjonaj, Zanka, Schindler, Malone – Hogg, Mooy – Ince, Pritchard, van La Parra – Mounie

Crystal Palace

Unlike their next rivals, who managed to win several points lately, the Saturday’s match comes for the guests from London after four consecutive defeats in the Premier League, and it is no wonder they again slid down into the drop zone. True, their backlog behind teams positioned right above the relegation zone is minimal and Palace fans believe that their team can avoid moving into the Football League Championship after five years in the Premier League.

However, to do such thing they need points from match with Huddersfield, and we expect that manager Hodgson set a very offensive tactic, especially as recovered forward Zaha should return in the starting line-up. Unlike him, not fully recovered defenders Sakho and Ward, and midfielder Cabaya are questionable for this match, while definitely out of action are injured goalkeeper Speroni, stopper Dann, midfielders Punchon and Loftus-Cheek and forwards Sako and Wickham.

Probable lineups Crystal Palace: Hennessey – Wan-Bissaka, Kelly, Tomkins, van Aanholt – Townsend, Milivojevic, McArthur, Schlupp – Zaha, Benteke

Verdict:

After four consecutive defeats the guests from London have imperative to win if they want to again escape the drop zone. If we pit that against fact that Huddersfield traditionally plays well at home, it seems the most likely outcome should be that both teams score.

Pick:  both teams to score 1.98 - 98/100 @1XBet