A bottom-half Premier League clash takes place at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night as Crystal Palace play host to Bournemouth.
While the Eagles currently sit 12th in the top-flight standings with 16 points from 14 matches, the Cherries are three points and four places further back in 16th spot.
Match preview
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After accumulating 11 points from their opening seven Premier League matches, beating Sheffield United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United in the process, Crystal Palace has since suffered a dip in form and have only picked up five points from their last seven games.
Nevertheless, the Eagles avoided a third consecutive defeat when they rescued a point in a 1-1 draw at West Ham United last weekend, with Odsonne Edouard scoring his seventh goal of the season to cancel out an early opener from Mohammed Kudus.
Sitting mid-table and nine points clear of the bottom three, Roy Hodgson's side currently have no fears of a possible relegation scrap, but that could soon change if they fail to grind out positive results in the coming weeks, with Wednesday's clash against Bournemouth followed by a challenging run of six fixtures against teams all currently above the Eagles in the table.
Palace are preparing for a return to Selhurst Park where they have won only four of their 18 matches in 2023, claiming maximum points in just one of their first six home league games this season. The Eagles have also come out in top in just one of their previous 15 top-flight fixtures played on a Wednesday, which does not bode well ahead of their latest encounter with Andoni Iraola's side.
However, Palace's recent record against Bournemouth makes for better reading, as they have won each of their last five Premier League meetings with the Cherries, including their last three on home soil by an aggregate score of 8-3, so the Eagles have reason to be optimistic in their quest to claim their first Wednesday win since 1993.
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After picking up maximum points in back-to-back Premier League games against Newcastle United and Sheffield United either side of the international break, Bournemouth were seemingly on course to claim their third successive victory as they entered the closing stages of last weekend's clash with Aston Villa.
Antoine Semenyo initially had his opener cancelled out by Leon Bailey before Dominic Solanke put the Cherries back in front shortly after half time, but the hosts were ultimately forced to settle for just a point as Ollie Watkins netted a 90th-minute equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw for Villa at the Vitality Stadium.
Only Burnley (14) have dropped more points than Bournemouth (13) from winning positions so far this season, but 10 points accumulated in their last five Premier League matches has helped the Cherries climb out of the bottom three and move six points clear of Everton in 18th place.
Three of Bournemouth's next four games are away from home and Iraola will be keen to see improvements made by his side on their travels, as they have picked up the joint-second fewest away points (four) in the division so far this season, while only basement club Sheffield United (20) have conceded more goals on the road than the Cherries (18).
Trips to London have not been pleasant for Bournemouth in recent years, as they have lost 12 of their last 16 Premier League games in the capital, including a 2-0 defeat in their last visit to Selhurst Park in May, so Iraola's men are sure to have a fight on their hands to preserve their three-match unbeaten run on Wednesday.
Team News
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Crystal Palace boss Hodgson has revealed that there is a disagreement between Eberechi Eze and the club's medical staff over when the midfielder can return; Eze, who is nursing an ankle injury, is keen to return to training ahead of Wednesday's match, but Palace doctors believe that the Englishman requires "a longer period of time" to recover and avoid aggravating the issue.
Eze is therefore a doubt for the clash with Bournemouth along with Jeffrey Schlupp, who missed the draw at West Ham due to personal reasons, but Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), Rob Holding (ankle), Dean Henderson and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (both thigh) are all sidelined.
A back four of Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi and Tyrick Mitchell is set to remain intact, while Chris Richards could continue in a midfield role alongside Jefferson Lerma and Will Hughes if Schupp is not available.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Matheus Franca will both be pushing to start in the final third, but Hodgson is expected to stick with the same front three of Edouard, Jordan Ayew and Michael Olise.
As for Bournemouth, Lloyd Kelly, Tyler Adams, Max Aarons (all thigh), Alex Scott (knee), Ryan Fredericks (calf), Emiliano Marcondes (foot) and Darren Randolph (illness) all remain long-term absentees.
Iraola is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to the side that drew with Aston Villa, so Ryan Christie and Lewis Cook could continue in centre-midfield, forcing Philip Billing and Joe Rothwell to remain on the substitutes' bench.
David Brooks, Luis Sinisterra and Dango Ouattara will all be hoping to force their way into the first XI on the flanks, but Semenyo and Marcus Tavernier could retain their places either side of Justin Kluivert in the number 10 role and Solanke up front.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Lerma, Hughes, Schlupp; Olise, Edouard, Ayew
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo; Solanke
We say: Crystal Palace 1-1 Bournemouth
Both Crystal Palace and Bournemouth will view Wednesday's clash as a winnable game and know that three points secured an Selhurst Park would provide them with a much-needed confidence boost ahead of next weekend's challenging matches against Liverpool and Man United respectively.
Although the Eagles have fared better in this fixture in recent seasons, their dip in form has coincided with improvements made at Bournemouth, so a closely-fought score draw could be on the cards this time around.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
