Premier League preview and odds: Stoke City vs Crystal Palace

Published on: 17/12/2015

Premier League preview and odds: Stoke City vs Crystal Palace

December 19, 2015 15:00pm - Britannia Stadium

Premier League

In-form Stoke City will be hoping to improve their standing in the league on Saturday when they welcome European hopefuls Crystal Palace to the Britannia Stadium in the Barclays Premier League.

Stoke pushing for top half status

Stoke may be 11th in the Premier League table, but they are just three points behind fifth place Spurs and have the third-best form in the league over the last 10 games. Over that period, Mark Hughes` men have bagged a total of 20 points out of a possible 30 - a record only bettered by Arsenal and Leicester.

Last time out, the Potters held West Ham to a goalless draw in London and prior to that, they claimed the scalp of Manchester City with a 2-0 win on home soil.

Stoke continue to defend well having conceded just five goals in their last ten games, but their scoring record is poor with just eight goals managed in that same spell - only Aston Villa have scored less goals in that time.

Palace in top-four push

Palace are looking to take advantage of the faltering teams above them and force their way get back into the top-four. With three wins and one defeat in their last five games, Alan Pardew`s men are making steady progress towards that goal.

In their last game, they put in a solid display to overcome Southampton by a single goal on home soil. That win extended their unbeaten run to three games having drawn at Everton (1-1) and strolled past Newcastle (5-1) at home.

Team news

Stoke could welcome back Xherdan Shaqiri from illness, while Geoff Cameron, Peter Crouch and Shay Given are all still out.

Meanwhile, Palace are hoping that Mile Jedinak and Bakarty Sako will both be available, however, Kwesi Appiah and Dwight Gayle will both miss out.

Recent form (League)

Stoke City: DWLWW

Crystal Palace: WDWLW

Betting odds and tips

This should be a very tight game between two evenly-matched teams. Under 2.5 goals can be backed at 8/13 with Bet365. That result has paid out in Stoke`s last three home matches and in four out of the last five of Palace`s away games.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 17/12/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (17/12/2015 13:33:55) but are subject to change.