Stoke City v Crystal Palace: Can Potters stay alive with a win?

Stoke versus Crystal Palace may not be the most attractive game for the neutral but Saturday’s clash at the Bet365 Stadium becomes a crucial relegation battle with both teams fighting to stay in the Premier League. Palace may look comfortable in 11th place but the Eagles will need at least one more point to guarantee safety while, for second from bottom Stoke, the situation is far more desperate.

A point might be enough to leave the home side with a slim chance of survival but in reality they need to win both of their remaining games, starting with this Saturday lunchtime kick off.

Match Odds

Stoke have drawn their last three matches, results that haven’t really helped their cause, but that reasonable form together with home advantage makes Paul Lambert’s team favourites in a tight market. MarathonBet have a top price on the hosts of 87/50 while the same bookmaker has Crystal Palace at best odds of 91/50.

The draw completes the betting at a best of 5/2 and that may seem like a value option when you consider how close this result market is.

Palace certainly have the better form and a thumping 5-0 home win over Leicester City last weekend was arguably their best performance of the season. Roy Hodgson’s men are unbeaten in their last three but away from home against a desperate side that will be backed by a hostile crowd, they could be vulnerable.

There’s definitely some value in a market with odds against prices on all three outcomes but before we attempt to call it, who are the players most likely to make a difference on the pitch?

Individual Goal Scorers

The first goal scorer betting is headed by Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha who starts at best odds of 6/1 with Boylesports and Sport Pesa to open the scoring. The England international has eight goals this season and while that may seem like a modest return, he is the Eagles’ most likely threat.

Zaha is followed closely by Stoke’s Peter Crouch at a top price of 13/2 with Boylesports again. Crouch was on the mark at West Ham a couple of weeks ago but, while he was brought into the starting line up against Liverpool last time out, the lanky striker often starts as substitute so may be a better option at a best of 12/5 with Unibet and 888Sport for an anytime goal.

Moving through the list, Tyrese Campbell is quoted at best odds of 7/1 and Xherdan Shaqiri at a top price of 15/2 and both of those figures are with Boylesports once again.

Further back, one of the prices that interests us is the 23/2 from Sport Pesa next to the name of Luka Milivojevic who is as short at 15/2 elsewhere. The Serbian has ten goals from midfield and takes the majority of Palace’s penalties so, at the very least, he could be considered for an anytime goal at 39/10 – also with Sport Pesa.

There is further potential value in the anytime market from Joe Allen at 8/1 with BetFred, Charlie Adam at 13/2 with Unibet and Andros Townsend at 7/2 with MarathonBet.

We want to tip in the scoring markets but this is a tough call. Milivojevic would have been our preference but we’re not convinced that Crystal Palace will find the net as Stoke have been very tight at the back in their last three games. With that in mind, we’ll take Joe Allen for an anytime goal as the Welsh international is capable of important strikes and we’ve had some success elsewhere with long odds recently.

Other Side Bets:

We mentioned that Stoke had been tight at the back and in their last three games they have conceded just twice and somehow managed to shut out Liverpool and the prolific Mohamed Salah last weekend. All of those games finished with Under 2.5 goals and that’s another confirmed tip for this fixture at best odds of 24/25e.

In terms of other popular bets, Both Teams to Score is available at a top price of 79/100 with MarathonBet so clearly the bookmakers aren’t expecting too many goals on Saturday lunchtime.

We’ll avoid BTTS as we think that Stoke have reasonable form despite their desperate position. The guide shows three draws in their last three and prior to those results, Paul Lambert’s men lost by the odd goal in three to a strong Spurs unit.

Under 2.5 Goals is probably our safer tip as we look for Stoke to build on that form and take the win against a Palace team who are hopefully a little complacent after effectively sealing Premier League safety last time out.

Best Bets:

• Stoke to win at 87/50 with MarathonBet
• Joe Allen to score anytime at 8/1 with BetFred