Crystal Palace vs Everton Odds
| Crystal Palace Odds | +155 |
| Everton Odds | +170 |
| Draw | +250 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 +100 / -125 |
Crystal Palace will look for their first back-to-back victories since the start of September when they host Everton in an FA Cup fourth round tie on Thursday.
Palace overcame conceding early in a comfortable 3-1 home win over Brentford on Saturday to snap an eight-match league winless run, paced by Michael Olise's brace to bring his league total to five goals.
The same day, Everton gave one of their worst performances of the season in a 3-0 loss at surging Wolverhampton Wanderers, marking their third consecutive league defeat following four straight league wins.
It was Everton who began Palace's winless run with a 3-2 victory back at Selhurst Park on Nov. 11, and the Toffees are unbeaten with three wins against the Eagles in their last four meetings.
Here's how I'm betting Crystal Palace vs Everton.
Crystal Palace
Saturday's win over Brentford will take at least some of the mounting pressure off manager Roy Hodgson, who had seen the Eagles drift toward the relegation places.
But despite Hodgson's reputation for at times playing a less-than-aesthetically pleasing style, the recent problems have been primarily defensive. Starting with the previous defeat to Everton, Palace have conceded in nine consecutive matches — all in the league — for a total of 16 goals on 13.3 expected goals (xG) allowed.
On the other end, Palace will be without the in-form winger Olise, who exited late against Brentford after his goals because of a hamstring issue. It was reminiscent of the problem that kept him from making his season debut until November.
It's a frustrating blow considering Hodgson had just gotten Eberechi Eze back healthy on the other wing, with the pair only starting three times together in Hodgson's XI. In the latter two such games, Palace were unfortunate to lose 2-1 to Chelsea on a late penalty and were deserving of their win over Brentford that followed.
In better news for Hodgson, team scoring leader Odsonne Eduard could be in line for his first action since Dec. 9 after a layoff because of a calf issue. He has six league goals this season and was an unused substitute in Saturday's victory.
Everton
Everton may have lost three games in a row, but each loss was pretty different.
In a visit to Tottenham Hotspur, Everton were dominant after going behind by two, pulling one goal back after having another ruled out by a video review, and then came within millimeters of an equalizer through Arnaut Danjuma.
At home against Manchester City, the Toffees went in front through Jack Harrison somewhat against the run of play, and while they were unfortunate with the nature of a couple of the goals conceded they were ultimately second-best in a 3-1 loss, despite a valiant effort.
It was only the performance at Wolves that was truly poor. Part of that may have owed to a switch to a five-back system at the expense of Everton's primary 4-2-3-1 (sometimes more of a 4-4-1-1). Dyche also suggested it was fatigue on apart of a busy portion of the season made busier by Everton's run to the League Cup quarterfinals.
But those losses had a common thread — the absence of Abdoulaye Dacoure, who is leading the Toffees with six league goals but hasn't played since coming off at halftime of a 2-0 win at Burnley on Dec. 16.
Dacoure involvement will be a matchday decision Thursday, according to Dyche, and his involvement will loom large given that strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto have both struggled for goals.
Crystal Palace vs Everton
Prediction
Everton have rarely had two bad performances in a row under Dyche, so I'd expect a response from the Toffees after Saturday's defeat. That said, if Dacoure is limited to use off the bench, it's difficult to bet Everton at the current price.
With Palace also nursing an attacking injury in Olise, that could make it hard for either team to gain much separation in what should be an evenly contested affair.
But those absences don't make either side completely barren of attacking ideas, and I think the total-goals market appears to be overcompensating for those absences.
What I also think is this: If the total does go over 2.5, it will be the efforts of both teams who get it there. That makes a same-game parlay on the total going over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring appealing at +131 odds and an implied 43.3% probability.
It's a wager that has cashed exactly 50% of the time in all competitions (11-of-22 matches) between Palace's games at Selhurst Park and Everton's travels.
Pick: Over 2.5 & Both Teams to Score, Same Game Parlay (+131 via ESPN Bet)
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