Stoke – Crystal Palace

Not the most expected game of the round in Premier League, but a very interesting match betting-wise here between Stoke City and Crystal Palace.

Stoke had a difficult opening round, losing 1-0 at Anfield against Liverpool, but the performance was good. Stoke even missed a late penalty which would have most likely earned them a point. The hosts appointed Mark Hughes as manager, but besides that they are pretty much the same as in last seasons, good solid team, mid-table, very strong on home turf.

Newcomers Crystal Palace will be faced with a very tough task of staying up in the Premier League. The visitors were very poor in the first round against Tottenham, despite only losing 1-0. Palace defended with the whole team and created no chances. The manager raised some concerns over the quality of the squad. The roster is very poor, and this team really does not look cut out for the Premier League. When you`re playing 40 year old striker Kevin Phillips at this level, no good things are projected to happen. There would be no fear of mistaking when calling Crystal Palace the worst team in the league, at least until they make some signings, if they do.

Team news

Stoke will have to do without Shea, Palacios and Ness. Palacios is the only big blow here. Crystal Palace has a number of missing players: Parr, Price, Thomas, Bolasie, top scorer Murray and captain McCarthy.

Crystal Palace:  Speroni – Ward, Gabbidon, Delaney, Moxey – Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Garvan – Gayle, Chamakh, Puncheon.

Last season the two teams met in the FA Cup, 0-0 at Crystal Palace and a 4-1 victory for Stoke at home (after extra time). Stoke was playing some reserves in those games.

Crystal Palace`s main strength lies in set-pieces, but against a physical team like Stoke, with so many tall players, they have very low chances to be able to capitalize.

Expect Stoke to keep the ball and continuously peg at the Crystal Palace defense. The visitors will eventually collapse, and offensively they have no weapons to hurt a good defensive team like Stoke. They`ll rely solely on star player Chamakh. City has the quality, the home court advantage (very important for them) and even the short-term form. Add to that Palace`s squad problems and you get a reasonable and logical bet here. Under 2,5 also looks good, but if the visitors somehow get a goal, Stoke should have the power to score 2 and win, so I`m sticking with the home victory at better odds.

Pick: Stoke
Odds: 1.85 @ Bet365
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.80
Event date: 24 August