Everton are in search of a much-needed three points as they face a tough test against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park this weekend.
Crystal Palace currently sit 12th in the Premier League with nine wins, nine draws and thirteen losses from thirty-one games this season.
Palace look a team transformed since Roy Hodgson retook charge of the club he departed back in 2021 as they enter this game on a three-match winning streak that means the former England boss has a 100% record under his belt this season.
The London club look liberated under the guidance of Hodgson who's given his players a degree of attacking freedom that they were seemingly denied under Patrick Vieira, with Hodgson declaring: "we know the music, know the notes, they have to play the tune." when referring to the offensive license given to Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise.
The former has been revitalised by Hodgson, with Eze having scored three (four if you count the free kick against Leicester that went down as an own goal against Leicester) in his last three games. The former England U21 man is an exceptionally talented attacker who is now approaching the kind of form that led to him being selected for England's Euro 2020 squad before ruthlessly succumbing to an achilles injury that prevented him from appearing at the tournament.
Palace are full steam ahead and are highly unlikely to be relegated after this run of results and a home game against a struggling Everton side is the perfect opportunity to effectively seal their place in the Premier League for another year.
Everton currently sit 17th in the Premier League with six wins, nine draws and sixteen losses from thirty-one games this season.
The Toffees have had a dismal campaign and there are few signs of it improving anytime soon as they enter this game in poor form.
Some saw the appointment of Sean Dyche as the inevitable first step to sealing Premier League survival but the reality has been far from that as they enter this game having won just one of their last eight matches in the league.
Their most recent game saw them fall to a disappointing 1-3 defeat at home to an out of form Fulham side in a fixture that Dyche will have pinned as one his side must take points from.
His side now have an exceptionally tricky run-in from here until May which will force them to take points from a superior opponent.
A defeat here will be terrible for squad morale so a point at least is necessity. It won't be easy, though, and on their current form there's little reason to expect it.
For our Crystal Palace vs. Everton prediction, we're going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
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