Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Aston Villa are hoping to take a step towards securing Champions League football for a second straight season as they lock horns with Crystal Palace.

• Date: 25/02/2025
• Kick-off time: 19:30
• Location: Selhurst Park, South London

Crystal Palace are currently 13th in the Premier League with 33 points from 26 games. It's been a mixed campaign for the Eagles so far but it's one they've grown into, and they come into this game in arguably their best form of the season.

Contrary to expectations, Palace started the season very slowly, which quickly piled the pressure on manager Oliver Glasner. However, Palace ignored the news internally, and slowly but surely, Glasner has got the side ticking, and they now have their eyes set on a top half finish.

Palace struggled to adapt to the loss of Michael Olise, and they do still miss the now Bayern Munich winger, but they've found a way to get things done without him and they'll feel like they can really kick on as a team next season if they make the right additions to the squad.

Central to their success is striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who is carrying a large part of the attacking burden. Mateta has 11 goals in the league this season and is the team's standout in terms of attacking output. They'll hope he remains with the club for the foreseeable future because he wouldn't be easy to replace, and if they Eagles are to finish in the top half this season, they'll need to rely on his goals to do it.

Aston Villa are currently 8th in the Premier League with 42 points from 27 games. Despite their success in Europe, the Midlands-based club have had a tough campaign in the Premier League, much of which has been impacted by an inability to maintain the fitness of their squad.

However, even in spite of their injuries, they've been growing in strength in recent weeks and they come into this one back in the hunt for a top four finish, something that had been looking quite unlikely up until a few weeks ago.

Villa have been rejuvenated be the arrivals of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio in the January transfer window, with both player providing a real injection of top level quality. Asensio has scored two goals already while Rashford has two assists, and the latter looks particularly aggressive and determined to show his level after what's been a torrid time in Manchester of late.

If Villa can get their players back fit and can maintain it, they can finish this season incredibly strongly and rally for a top four finish. For now, they remain fairly depleted, and in what is set to be their third game in under a week, any result here would be good.

This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK viewers on TNT Sports 2.

Crystal Palace Team News:

The home side come into this side unable to call upon Chadi Riad, Cheick Doucouré and Joel Ward.

After a solid win at the weekend, expect them to name the same starting XI for this one.

Predicted lineup: Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guéhi; Muñoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta.

Aston Villa Team News:

The visitors are once again expected to be without Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley, Boubacar Kamara, Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings.

Morgan Rogers is also a doubt after coming off with a knock against Chelsea, but it's not thought to be too serious.

Predicted lineup: Martínez; García, Konsa, Bogarde, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans; Rogers, Asensio, Rashford; Watkins.

Crystal Palace:

Crystal Palace come into this game with three wins and two losses from their last five games. The Eagles faced a tough away game at Fulham at the weekend and emerged 2-0 winners, thanks to an own goal and a goal from Daniel Muñoz, in what was a fine result.

Before that, Palace were beaten 1-2 at home by Everton, a result that followed a 2-0 win over Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup - with the goals coming from Muñoz and Jacob Devenny - and a 2-0 win against Manchester United, courtesy of a Jean-Philippe Mateta brace.

Those results came after a 1-2 loss at the hands of Brentford.

Aston Villa:

Aston Villa enter this game having won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five matches. Last time out, Villa welcomed Chelsea to Villa Park and ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a Marco Asensio brace.

Prior to that, Villa drew 2-2 at home to Liverpool thanks to goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins, which was preceded by a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town - where Watkins bagged the goal - and a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup, with Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers scoring the goals.

Those results were preceded by a 2-0 defeat away at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Both of these sides come into this game in similar runs of form, which Palace have been poor on home soil - with just one win in their last five - and Villa have struggled on the road - only one win in their last five.

The last five meetings between these two sides have seen two wins each and one draw, so it feels as though there's going to be very little separating these two sides on Tuesday night. Crystal Palace 1-1 Aston Villa.

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