Crystal Palace vs Brentford predictions: Regal Palace to make capital gains
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- Only one place and one point separate the two teams in the league
- Brentford beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in the first league meeting in August
- Recommended bet: Crystal Palace to win
Crystal Palace are heading in an upward direction after a slow start to the season and should be confident of a win which will see them leapfrog Brentford in the table.
The Bees, hard to beat at the Gtech Community Stadium, are something of a soft touch away from their Hounslow homestead and have won just one of their last seven in the league.
Team news
Oliver Glasner may well stick with the same Palace starting XI in their customary 3-4-2-1 set-up, which helped them win 2-0 at West Ham last time.
New signing Romain Esse would love a start but will do well to dislodge either Eberechi Eze or Ismaila Sarr while Adam Wharton remains out.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank will be pleased to have Kristoffer Ajer back in training with Ethan Pinnock and Aaron Hickey out.
The stats
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Palace have lost just one of their last 11 in the Premier League, while striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored four goals in his last three league games.
Brentford have picked up five points out of a possible 30 on their travels. Only Southampton (2) have mustered fewer.
Sixteen of Brentford's 22 league matches have produced three goals or more. However, just nine of Palace's have done likewise.
Brentford have won one of their last nine in all competitions.
Prediction
Palace have turned into a pretty streaky side under Glasner and they are currently on one of those runs, which suggests they are the team to side with against Brentford.
Glasner signed off last season with six wins in seven to stay up, started this campaign with no wins in eight to drop into the bottom three and are now on a five-game unbeaten run, which they can stretch to six.
The Austrian, blessed with a team which pretty much picks itself at the moment, looks rock-solid defensively, aggressive in midfield and as lively as any side out there in the final third, where Sarr and Mateta are overachieving alongside the ever-dependable Eze.
Back-to-back 2-0 wins at Leicester and West Ham, the Hammers unable to manage a single shot on target, have lifted the Eagles up the table and continued to lift spirits.
A victory over Brentford would lift them to 11th and set the platform for a dart at the top half over the last few months of this term.
While Palace look up, Brentford have started treading water though they have come through a pretty brutal run of fixtures, with eight of their last nine fixtures against teams in the current top nine.
Their away record is still a matter of some concern, as is the constant background noise over potential transfer bids for Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and others.
And they still have their share of injuries. They concede goals, Palace do not and that could be the difference with the Eagles set to nick a low-scorer.
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