Crystal Palace v Leicester: Foxes to put up a fight against the Eagles

Crystal Palace v Leicester
Saturday April 15, 15:00 BST

Crystal Palace

It seems a long time ago that the Palace players were being booed off the pitch as they trailed 4-0 at home to Sunderland by halftime. Some serious questions needed to be asked and Sam Allardyce and his players have answered every single one.

Since that defeat, the Eagles have won five of their next seven matches to move two places and six points clear of the relegation zone - and they have a game in hand. In two of their last three outings they have beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and thrashed Arsenal 3-0 on Monday night.

Despite having the likes of Patrick van Aanholt return to training, it would seem unlikely that Allardyce will make any changes from his starting XI. The front three of Benteke, Townsend and Zaha are causing havoc for opposition defences and Mamadou Sakho has really added some class to the back four.

Leicester

The visitors have also been on an impressive run and while their six match winning streak came to an end on Sunday at Goodison Park, they are now safely berthed in mid-table, just one win one short of pretty much guaranteeing their survival.

The Foxes were also beaten in midweek at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League but they put in a dogged performance and, at just 1-0, they are still right in the tie ahead of the second leg at the King Power.

Craig Shakespeare will almost certainly rotate his team with Andy King and Demarai Gray expected to feature. Obviously the priority will be the Madrid game on Tuesday, but they won't want to go into the match on a low note and the fringe players will be trying to stake their claim for a first team place.

Match Odds
Crystal Palace 1.84 Leicester 5.00 The Draw 3.85

The hosts are odds-on for this fixture but I couldn't back them at that price. I appreciate that Palace will possibly have that extra bit of desire to win this match but Leicester will know that if they are beaten, they'll actually fall behind them in the table.

One thing is for sure, confidence levels will be high among the players on show and it should be quite an entertaining affair. Ultimately though, I think the spoils will be shared and the draw at around the 3.85 mark looks decent.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals
Over 2.5 Goals 2.00 Under 2.5 Goals 1.98

The Betfair layers can't make up their minds in this market and I can't say I really blame them. The recent stats are pointing towards goals as Palace's last three have all gone over 2.5, but prior to that they had four on the bounce go under.

In the Premier League, Leicester have had four of their six latest outings go over 2.5 - in fact they all went over 3.5 - but then they also had a couple of 2-0 wins as well.

Ultimately, with both outcomes only offering a double your money scenario, I'm happy to leave it alone and play elsewhere.

Correct Score

I'm quite keen to back a score draw in this market and my plan is to dutch 1-1 and 2-2. What that means is that you bet on both, with a staking plan devised to make both outcomes deliver the same profit.

The 1-1 scoreline is trading at around the 8.60 mark and 2-2 at 19.00. If you wanted your total stake to be £20, then you would put £13.77 on 1-1 and £6.23 on 2-2. If either landed, your bet would return £118.41 for a profit of £98.41. Which basically means that you are getting both outcomes at around 5/1.

Recommended Bets
Back The Draw @ 3.85
Back a 1-1 Correct Score @ 8.60
Back a 2-2 Correct Score @ 19.00