PREMIER LEAGUE MONDAY: The Striker previews CRYSTAL PALACE v WEST HAM with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
CRYSTAL PALACE V WEST HAM
8pm We have Monday Night Football from the Premier League on Betdaq Betting Exchange this week! Crystal Palace host West Ham at Selhurst Park in what promises to be a fascinating London derby; and one where the stakes could barely be more different for the two sides! Palace head into this fixture on an extraordinary high after reaching the Europa Conference League Semi-Final on Thursday night, coming through a nerve-wracking second leg against Fiorentina in Florence to progress 4-2 on aggregate. West Ham, meanwhile, are riding a wave of momentum of their own after a 4-0 demolition of Wolves last Friday night that lifted them out of the relegation zone for the first time since December.
I did see videos of the Palace players celebrating on Thursday night, so you could hardly say that they will be fully focused on this fixture. Palace can’t achieve anything in the Premier League at this stage of the season so you cannot blame them. However, the likes of Spurs and Nottingham Forest will be fuming if Palace don’t turn up 100% here – that’s just football these days though. We saw it with Spurs and Manchester United in the run-in with the Europa League Final last season. Diego Simeone has already been told he can rest his squad for most La Liga games given they are in the Champions League Semi-Final. West Ham will surely view this as an excellent opportunity for three points given the situation.
We have an interesting betting heat here. Crystal Palace are the favourites at 2.5 with West Ham 3.15 and the draw is 3.4 at the time of writing. I have to say I thought we’d have a more open betting heat clicking into the market here. Palace are favourites for the Europa Conference League, and whether Glasner will be particularly eager to throw his key players into a bruising Premier League encounter with West Ham trying to stay up just days after that Florence battle is definitely a question worth asking here. The temptation to rotate and protect players for what is, frankly, a far more historic prize could be enormous.
West Ham, on the other hand, need every single point they can get. Don’t forget too that Nottingham Forest have a Europa League Semi-Final to focus on, and then obviously all the drama with Spurs. West Ham have a lot of momentum at the moment, and while I know their performance levels over the season haven’t been great, they have a lot of recent wins. West Ham’s average xG created of 1.20 is very low, the fourth worst in the Premier League, but they are scoring a lot recently. Their average xG conceded of 1.78 is also very poor – the second worst defensive figure in the Premier League, but they’ve only conceded three in their last four league games.
Palace aren’t exactly playing superb football domestically – their average xG created of 1.32 is a solid enough mid-table figure, but their average xG conceded of 1.36 is also reasonable. They have been playing like a mid-table side all season. Surely with one eye on the Europa Conference League to finish the season now, the 2.5 on Palace looks a little short here with West Ham finding some form. I’m happy to lay Palace from a value point of view.
The Striker Says:
Two points lay (liability) Crystal Palace to beat West Ham at 2.5 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/PLCrWe
