Fulham vs Crystal Palace | Premier League – Matchday 1 of 38 Betting Preview
Fulham vs Crystal Palace – Sat 11th August. Kick Off: 15:00. Craven Cottage, London.
Kicking off the first London derby with the newly promoted Fulham vs a potential relegation rival in Crystal Palace. Considering Palace were almost out for the count at the start of last season, the odds are pretty short for their relegation. At best you can find them at 11/2 with Paddy Power. But, they are the ninth favourite to suffer relegation which is good for a team that had such a bad start last season.
They lost the first seven games in a row without scoring a single goal and conceding 17 goals in the process. Their first win didn’t come until the 14th October against previous champions Chelsea. They sat bottom of the table for 12 weeks altogether, but finally stabilised and finished in a respectable 11th place.
Palace will be desperate start the season well and avoid repeating last seasons relegation scrap. They come into this game in very good form with five wins in a row during their pre-season campaign. Defeating Toulouse 4-1 and Reading 4-0 in their last two games. Before that, they beat Stevenage, Oxford United and Halmstad.
Crystal Palace has brought in Cheikhou Kouyate from West Ham and the highly rated young German midfielder, Max Meyer. With a reported £170,000 per week contract, Meyer will be the highest paid player in their squad. Also, in the top 20 in the Premier League with the likes of Van Dijk and Aubameyang earning just £10,000 more a week.
Once dubbed the “German Messi” he sure has a lot to live up to. But, last season he didn’t register a single assist or goal for Schalke in 1733 minutes during his 24 appearances in the Bundesliga. However, he did play as a defensive midfielder for most of the season so its hard to judge.
Fulham has had a fairly awful pre-season with three losses and two draws in their last five games. But, they have had an absolute cracker of a transfer window. Spending around £70m on some great new players like Jean Seri, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Alfie Mawson. Whilst getting Andre Schurrle and Calum Chambers on loan. But, Mawson is estimated to be out until around September as he recovers from knee surgery.
Despite Fulham not winning in their last five games, they are bound to come out and play better at their first home game of the season. When playing at home, Fulham has not lost to Crystal Palace in their last six encounters. But, we don’t think Palace will make it easy for them either.
We are looking at a BTTS draw, with the best odds of 7/2 at BetVictor.
Steven Hubbard
08/08/2018 10:50
