Monday Night Football comes from Selhurst Park, as Crystal Palace face rivals Brighton in Roy Hodgson's 100th game as manager.
Recommended bets
1pt 30+ Brighton booking points at 5/4
1pt Crystal Palace to score 2+ goals at 13/8
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Crystal Palace v Brighton
- 2000 GMT kick-off on Sky Sports Premier League
Fans of other clubs will underestimate this match, but those within will tell you just how big the M23 derby is for both Crystal Palace and Brighton and we could be set for a feisty clash under the lights at Selhurst Park.
Seagulls boss Graham Potter only arrived at the club in the summer, but he recently revealed how he is reminded 'pretty much every day' of how big this game is.
Roy Hodgson experienced a home defeat in this fixture last season and the Palace boss, taking charge of his 100th game, does not underestimate its importance.
"When you work for a club you immerse yourself into the culture of the club," the former England boss said.
"For me in particular going back a long way with the club, I have no difficulty understanding it.
"Even the foreign players that come in, it doesn't take them long to understand that the Brighton game is one of the highlights and one of the most important games of the season for everybody at the club.
"There will be no concern from me in that regard. The players will know what they're up against and pull out all of the stops."
Both sides were fancied for relegation at the start of the season, but promising first halves of the campaign have given both sets of fans reason to be optimistic.
Palace are on a three-game unbeaten run while Brighton have not lost their last two - with the Seagulls just emerging from a tough run of fixtures after facing Man United, Leicester, Liverpool, Arsenal and Wolves in their last five games.
But, in a derby, form goes out of the window and this could be an exciting and feisty clash. The latter word is exactly what we are expecting, and backing the visitors to collect at least three yellow cards looks a good option at 5/4.
Potter's men, for all their improvement in style of play this term, average two yellow cards per game and have collected three or more in two of their last five.
With Palace's individual talent in attack, they are able to draw in fouls and, in a clash between rivals, three or more yellows for a visiting team in a tense atmosphere is not a particularly big ask.
In terms of the match result, Palace have got to fancy their chances on home turf. They are working on improving in front of their own fans and they have collected 11 points from 24 there this term - nearly all coming from bottom half teams.
For Brighton, their form on the road has not been great either, with just two wins and a draw from eight.
With this in mind, Palace can edge their rivals and grab a couple en route to a narrow victory to celebrate Hodgson reaching a century of games.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton (Sky Bet odds: Price Boosted to 10/1)
Best bets
30+ Brighton booking points at 5/4
Crystal Palace to score 2+ goals at 13/8
Opta stats
- Crystal Palace lost this exact fixture last season, but haven’t lost consecutive home league games against Brighton since December 1983.
- Brighton completed the league double over Crystal Palace last season. They haven’t won three in a row against the Eagles in all competitions since September 1984 (a run of five).
- Crystal Palace have lost each of their last three Premier League games played on Mondays, while all three of Brighton’s such games have finished in 2-2 draws.
- Brighton won their last Premier League away game (2-1 vs Arsenal), while they last won consecutive league games on the road in November 2017. The Seagulls have never won back-to-back top-flight games in London.
- Crystal Palace won their last Premier League home game (1-0 vs Bournemouth) – this game is taking place one year and one day since the Eagles last won back-to-back home games in the competition.
- Only second place Leicester (7) have kept more clean sheets than Crystal Palace (6) in the Premier League this season. However, only bottom side Watford (9) have failed to score in more games than the Eagles this term (7).
- Crystal Palace’s home games have played host to fewer goals than any other side’s this season, with Selhurst Park seeing just 13 goals in eight games (F6 A7).
- Crystal Palace are the only side in the Premier League side this season to have neither scored or conceded any goals from outside the box. Last season, there were 17 goals from outside the box in their games (F8 A9); only four clubs had more.
- This will be Roy Hodgson’s 100th game as Crystal Palace manager in all competitions (W37 D23 L39). He’s the third manager to reach the milestone for the club in the 21st century, after Iain Dowie (123 games) and Neil Warnock (146 games).
- Neal Maupay has scored six Premier League goals this season, three times as many as any other Brighton player.
Odds correct as of 2000 GMT on 13/12/19
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