Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth tips and predictions: Cherries to continue good run

Scott Allen
5 December 2023

Bournemouth will be hoping to continue their good run of form against a Crystal Palace side lacking a creative spark on Wednesday evening (1930 GMT).

Crystal Palace halted a run of two straight defeats after a fortunate draw with West Ham on Sunday afternoon.

Had it not been for West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos gifting Palace striker Odsonne Edouard an equaliser, the South London side could have easily slumped to a third straight defeat as they hardly troubled Alphonse Areola’s goal.

Bournemouth on the other hand have turned a corner and are pulling away from the relegation zone and could go level on points with Palace if they win at Selhurst Park.

The Cherries were unlucky not to claim a third straight win against Aston Villa on Sunday, after Ollie Watkins popped up with a superb header in the dying moments to salvage a draw. Villa keeper Emi Martinez also pulled off several important saves to keep the score down.

After two wins and a draw in their last three, Bournemouth will be licking their lips at tackling a wounded Palace side who are likely to be without injured duo Eberechi Eze and Cheick Doucoure in their ranks.

However, Bournemouth have a terrible record against Palace.

The Eagles have beaten Bournemouth in five of the last six, with the only victory for the Cherries coming in a Carabao Cup penalty shootout.

But this might be the perfect time to break that bad run. Palace haven’t won at home in four, their last victory coming against Wolves at the start of September.

If Bournemouth can stifle the threat posed by Palace’s main creative outlet Michael Olise then a narrow away win could be the way to go.

Palace aren’t big on scoring goals. They last netted more than two back in that Wolves victory and are ranked 18th in goals scored per game in the Premier League.

Bournemouth haven’t been much better in front of goal this season, but will be greatly encouraged by seven in the last three.

Leading scorer Dominic Solanke collected his seventh of the season on Sunday and looks appealing to grab the only goal of this encounter.

Team news

Eze is still a doubt as he recovers from an ankle injury, as is Jeffrey Schlupp who missed the West Ham match through personal reasons.

Cheick Doucoure, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Rob Holding and Dean Henderson are all still out.

Bournemouth are still without Lloyd Kelly, Tyler Adams, Ryan Fredericks, Max Aarons, Alex Scott, Emiliano Marcondes and Darren Randolph.

Roy Hodgson or Andoni Iraola aren’t expected to make any major changes to their sides that drew at the weekend.

Key stats

- Palace have beaten Bournemouth in five of the last six encounters
- Palace haven’t won at home in four
- Bournemouth have lost 12 of their last 16 Premier League games in London
- Crystal Palace have kept a clean sheet in their last five matches against Bournemouth in all competitions.