Crystal Palace vs Brighton & Hove Albion
English Premier League, KO: 20:00 Dec 21, 2023, Selhurst Park
THURSDAY night's festive fixture in the Premier League comes from Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace meet Brighton in the first M23 derby of the season.
The Eagles are without a league win since early November but they should be buoyed going into this game after staging a dramatic comeback to draw 2-2 at Man City on Saturday.
Despite earning that unexpected Etihad point, Roy Hodgson's side remain in 15th place in the Premier League table, eight points above the relegation zone.
That being said, a win over Brighton on Thursday night would propel Palace up to 12th spot and to within touching distance of the top half of the table.
As for the Seagulls, they will make the short trip to Selhurst Park after falling to a 2-0 defeat across the capital at Arsenal on Sunday.
That setback means Roberto De Zerbi's side have dropped down to ninth in the standings, though a win here would send them into the top-six.
Outright Betting
Three of the last four meetings between the pair have ended all square and another stalemate on Thursday night can be backed at 5/2 (William Hill) while the Eagles are 12/5 (PaddyPower) outsiders to emerge victorious.
Despite losing their last two Premier League away games, Brighton & Hove Albion head down the M23 as 23/20 favourites at Bet 365.
Betting Angles
Neither team makes great appeal in the 1X2 here so I'll instead opt for a player-based selection by backing Nathaniel Clyne to commit at least one foul at 4/5 with PaddyPower.
With Joel Ward expected to miss out here through injury, the aforementioned Clyne is likely to slot into his natural position of right-back on Thursday night.
While Clyne has a low foul per-game average in the Premier League this season, he has only started three games in the top-flight this term to date so there could be some ring rust on show when potentially pitting his wits against Brighton livewire Kaoru Mitoma.
The Japanese forward’s pace and movement in the final-third continues to cause top-flight full-backs all sorts of problems, with Arsenal's Ben White receiving a yellow card for a pull back on the classy Albion attacker on Sunday.
In fact, Mitoma is drawing 1.3 fouls per-game from Premier League opposition this season, earning at least one free-kick for his side in 12 of his 16 top-flight appearances this term to date.
Therefore, with all of that in mind, and team news permitting, backing the Palace right-back Clyne to be reprimanded at least once during this dust-up stands out at 4/5 with PaddyPower.
On a similar line of thought to the above, I'll also take it one step further and back Nathaniel Clyne to commit a foul and Kaoru Mitomato be fouled at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
Given that there is strong possibility that the two aforementioned players could be direct opponents on Thursday night, there is plenty of scope that both legs of this 11/10 (PaddyPower) play land during the same incident at Selhurst Park.
This English Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion will be played on Dec 21, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Crystal Palace vs Brighton & Hove Albion prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
