Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 29/20
Bookmaker: Bet365
Crystal Palace and Everton will open their respective 2019/20 Premier League campaigns against each other on Saturday afternoon at Selhurst Park. Both these teams were relatively active in the summer transfer market and made some notable additions while successfully retaining most of their key players, and their ambitions for the season will soon be revealed.
Crystal Palace
The Eagles have lost Aaron Wan-Bissaka who made his way to Manchester United, but they received a hefty fee for the services of the young fullback. They resisted all efforts from teams (mostly Arsenal) trying to snatch Wilfried Zaha even though the Ivorian had made his intention of leaving very clear. They signed midfielders James McCarthy (from Everton, incidentally) and Victor Camarasa (on loan from Real Betis), forward Jordan Ayew from Swansea City, and they snapped up former Chelsea defender Gary Cahill on a free transfer.
Team News
Manager Roy Hodgson will have some fresh options to choose from when selecting his starting XI, but centre-back James Tomkins is likely to miss out as he still hasn’t fully recovered from a hip injury which made him miss the final month of 2018/19. Mamadou Sakho also won’t be playing, and neither will Jeffrey Schlupp.
Zaha, who was denied a move away on deadline day, isn’t quite match-fit and may therefore miss the opener, which would certainly be a blow for the home side.
Everton
The Toffees have strengthened significantly over the summer. They managed to land midfielder Andre Gomes permanently for £22 million after the midfielder spent last season on loan at Goodison Park from Barcelona. Forwards Alex Iwobi (£35m) and Moise Kean (undisclosed) arrived from Arsenal and Juventus, respectively, along with midfielders Fabian Delph from Manchester City and Jean-Philippe Gbamin from Mainz, as well as defender Djibril Sidibe who comes on loan from Monaco. Goalkeeper Jonas Lossl came on a free transfer from Huddersfield Town, and is expected to serve as an understudy to Jordan Pickford.
Team News
In his pre-match press conference, manager Marco Silva revealed that he intends to play Iwobi on the left attacking flank, and it will be interesting to see how that pans out.
Delph will sit this one out with a thigh injury, and he is likely to be joined by Leighton Baines, though the veteran left-back is still to be assessed. Meanwhile, along with Iwobi, Gbamin and Kean may also be given a chance to make an impression.
Conclusion
Neither of these teams is likely to seriously challenge for trophies in England any time soon, but they are both likely to give any opponent an extremely tough game. It’s never easy to call such contest in advance, but perhaps this could be the time for Everton to finally show some notable improvement in their fortunes, having invested in the team rather heavily over the last few years.
The desire of the newcomers to stake a claim when it comes to the regular spots in the starting XI could work to their advantage, as well as a potentially deflated atmosphere in the Palace dressing room following the saga around Zaha.
Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 29/20
Bookmaker: Bet365
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