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The prospect of European football was briefly mooted following Palace’s comfortable 2-0 win over Bournemouth on the restart.
However, a resounding 4-0 defeat at Liverpool has dampened those ambitions and with talisman Wilfried Zaha suffering from a calf muscle strain and leaving the field after just 14 minutes, expectations should be lowered further.
Indeed, the Eagles have lost 14 of their last 17 without the Ivorian in the starting line-up, while including their most recent outing at Liverpool, they’ve failed to score in 13 of 18 matches without him.
Given safety is now assured, Roy Hodgson is unlikely to put his star player at risk unnecessarily.
However, Palace’s output of 28 goals this season has hardly set neutral pulses racing, with only desperate Norwich netting fewer, so we’re not expecting an abundance of goals here with Christian Benteke also a doubt with a hamstring complaint.
Burnley have their own firepower issues with Ashley Barnes still sidelined, while Chris Wood, Johan Berg Gudmundsson and Robert Brady are all doubts still.
Sean Dyche’s men have scored 10% fewer goals without Wood in the starting line-up since the start of last season, while over the same period there’s a 25% reduction in the absence of Barnes.
Even back-up Jay Rodriguez took a knock against Watford, though his substitution appeared more of a precaution than anything else.
Under 2.5 Goals
With two pragmatic coaches at the helm, it’s hardly a shock to see that this fixture has often failed to ignite in recent times. In fact, five of six meetings since April 2017 have finished either 1-0 or 2-0.
Although Palace have won the past four encounters, eight of their 11 victories this term have finished by one of those two scorelines and they’re prospects rest upon a strong defensive display.
Excluding that 5-0 trouncing handed out by City, Burnley have seen fewer than three goals in five of seven matches now.
Up against mid-table sides between eighth and 13th, the Clarets have seen a maximum of two goals in six of eight games this season, with five of these featuring just one strike or none at all.
Given a massive 13 of Palace’s 15 home games this term have seen Under 2.5 Goals land, it appears banker material in what is essentially a dead-rubber game between two sides lacking forward impetus.
CRYSTAL PLACE V BURNLEY ODDS AVAILABLE HERE
ODDS ARE CORRECT AS OF 29 JUNE HOWEVER ARE SUBJECT TO FLUCTUATIONS
