Crystal Palace to continue struggles at Everton
Everton continue to climb the table under Carlo Ancelotti. They face Crystal Palace in the lunchtime kick-off. Can they take another step towards the top six? Have a read of our preview here:
Everton finally showing some class
When you look at the players Everton have to call upon, it was hard to understand how they were struggling so badly under Marco Silva. It was difficult to watch him toil and when the club finally terminated his contract, everyone could breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Now under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti, the Toffees have started to motor up the table and are only two points behind sixth-place Wolves.
The players have bought into the Italian’s system and they clearly have more than enough quality to push for Europe if not the Champions League.
Richarlison has been superb, being directly involved in more goals (eight goals and three assists) than any other Everton player in the Premier League this season.
Keeping him at the club despite rumours Barcelona were interested, could turn out to be the best piece of business the club do in 2019-20. Lucas Digne has also been impressive, leading the team with five assists while Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the top scorer with 10.
Yerry Mina is an important defender for the Toffees and his partnership with Mason Holgate is beginning to bear fruit. There is a long way to go, but with just eight points separating the Toffees from fourth, it should be an exciting end to the season at
Lack of goals continues to be the issue
Palace have really struggled to score this season. The last two defeats came without finding the net and during the course of the campaign, no side in the Premier League has scored less than the Eagles.
They have also failed to score a first-half goal in a divisional-high 20 of their 25 top-flight games this season. Fifteen of those games have been goalless at the break, more than any other side's fixtures in 2019-20.
It is something they didn’t address in January and will probably cost them a top-half finish this season, although they will be hoping to comfortably avoid relegation.
The gap, as it stands, it six points but with Palace without a win in six league games, they have to be careful not to get drawn into a scrap at the bottom.
Everton - Crystal Palace betting tip
Everton are in decent form and Palace can’t score so you’d expect a home win. If the Toffees can get off to a good start then it could be quite comfortable so we are backing Everton to win by two goals at odds of 7/2 with bet365.
