Palace Face Boxing Day Test At Bournemouth

After facing the same team for two games in a row, it will be nice for the Eagles to take on someone different this Boxing Day but the hosts have hit a good run of form that has put them in the top five.

 

MATCH INFORMATION

26 December 2024 – 3pm
Vitality Stadium, Dean Court, Kings Park BH7 7AF

 

PREVIOUS MEETING

02/04/2024 – The last trip to take on the Cherries was a tightly contested affair with a late goal from Justin Kluivert sealing the points for the hosts. 
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Antoine Semenyo (7.7)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee Thomas Bramall
Assistant Adam Nunn
Assistant Constantine Hatzidakis
Fourth Official Andy Davies
VAR John Brooks
Assistant VAR Natalie Aspinall
 

TEAM NEWS

PALACE – Matheus Franca, Adam Wharton, Franco Umeh, and Rob Holding are all expected to remain unavailable. Chadi Riad and Ebere Eze will be assessed. Daniel Munoz will return from suspension.  

CHERRIES – Marcos Sensini, Julian Araujo, Alex Scott, Luis Sinisterra, and Marcus Tavernier are all expect to be unavailable. Adam Smith will face a late fitness test. 

 

DISCIPLINARY RECORD

This is the section of our match preview that highlights those that have not been the best of friends with match officials as the season goes on. Of course, they all begin with a clean slate, but we will start to see those that will be heading for a ban or two as the campaign progresses.

RED CARDS – Daichi Kamada (1)
YELLOW CARDS (over 3.5) – Will Hughes (6), Daniel Munoz (5), Antoine Semenyo (5), Ryan Christie (5), Jefferson Lerma (4), Justin Kluivert (4), Lewis Cook (4), Marc Guehi (4), Marcos Senesi (4), Adam Smith (4)

 

FORM GUIDE

Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;

02/04/2024 Bournemouth 1-0 Palace
06/12/2023 Palace 0-2 Bournemouth
13/05/2023 Palace 2-0 Bournemouth
31/12/2022 Bournemouth 0-2 Palace
15/09/2020 Bournemouth 0-0 Palace

Last FIVE results for Palace:

21/12/2024 Palace 1-5 Arsenal
18/12/2024 Arsenal 3-2 Palace
15/12/2024 Brighton 1-3 Palace
07/12/2024 Palace 2-2 Manchester City
03/12/2024 Ipswich 0-1 Palace

Last FIVE results for Bournemouth;

22/12/2024 Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth
16/12/2024 Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham
08/12/2024 Ipswich 1-2 Bournemouth
05/12/2024 Bournemouth 1-0 Spurs
30/11/2024 Wolves 2-4 Bournemouth

 

LEAGUE POSITION

Heading into the fixture, Palace are 16th in the Premier League with 16 points from 17 games played, while Bournemouth are 5th with 28 points from the same amount of games. 

 

RECORD AGAINST BOURNEMOUTH

Played 79
Won 28
Drawn 20
Lost 31

 

FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED

This is the section of our match preview where we list two players from each side that are top of the ratings by our friends over at Who Scored. Obviously, there are no ratings to share at the moment but that will soon change!

Antoine Semenyo 7.27
Ebere Eze 6.99
Daniel Munoz 6.96
Marcus Tavernier 6.93

 

ONE TO WATCH

JUSTIN KLUIVERT
FORMER CLUBS – SV Diemen, Ajax, Roma, RB Leipzig (loan), Nice (loan), Valencia (loan)
The Dutch winder has been in great form of late and has managed 6 goals so far this season and provided 2 assists, and has become a key part of the Cherries front line. 

 

THE NUMBERS

Palace did the double over Bournemouth in 2022-23 but the Cherries won both matches last season.

Only one side has scored in each of the past 7 meetings in all competitions since Palace won 5-3 in a league thriller in May 2019.

Palace have kept 4 clean sheets in their 7 Premier League away games against Bournemouth.

Palace are unbeaten in their past 4 away league games and could equal the club top-flight record of 3 consecutive away wins.

Oliver Glasner’s side have scored 11 goals in 8 away games, as opposed to just 7 goals in 9 games at Selhurst Park.

Palace have lost their last 3 Boxing Day matches, all by a 3-0 scoreline. They can suffer 4 consecutive Boxing Day league defeats for the second time, after 1950 to 1953 in the Third Division South.

Ismaila Sarr has been involved in 6 goals in his past 6 Premier League appearances for Palace, scoring 4 and assisting 2.

 

KEY CLASH

JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA v DEAN HUIJSEN
The French striker has played a key part is recent games and scored an excellent goal at the Emirates in the cup, but will be keen to get back on the goal trail if Palace can ensure that he is not isolated. He will be up against a young Dutch defender who has been a surprise star for the hosts in recent weeks.

 

PRE-MATCH STATS

This is the section of our match preview where we keep a tally on the statistics for Palace players as the campaign continues and how they compare to other Premier League players.

Goals Jean-Philippe MATETA, Ismaila SARR 4 (31st)
Assists Tyrick MITCHELL 3 (22nd)
Passes Marc GUEHI 892 (19th)
Tackles Daniel MUNOZ 56 (1st)
Touches Marc GUEHI 1124 (21st)
Shots Ebere EZE 43 (12th)
Fouls Will HUGHES 27 (11th)
Dispossessed Ismaila SARR 20 (37th)
Saves Dean HENDERSON 52 (6th)
Clearances Marc GUEHI 82 (7th)
Big Chances Missed Jean-Philippe MATETA 9 (6th)

 

TEB PREDICTION

The Boxing Day fixtures can be a little odd and this one could see plenty of goals the that both teams have been played. The hosts have been in good form which will be a challenge for the visitors but the return of Daniel Munoz and potentially Ebere Eze should provide Oliver Glasner with more options offensively. We are going for an entertaining draw. 

PREDICTED SCORE: 2-2
You May Also Like