Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace: prediction, preview and team news| Premier League 2020-21

Crystal Palace will be looking to bounce back from their seven-goal loss to Liverpool when they continue their 2020-21 Premier League campaign away to Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

After getting shredded into smithereens at Selhurst Park by Liverpool, Crystal Palace will be looking to regain a sense of order as they travel to take on Aston Villa on Saturday. Aston Villa have fallen to ninth on the Premier League table after their early-season blitzkrieg but have shown signs of finding some rhythm once again over their last three matches.

In their latest game, Dean Smith’s men registered a 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. They are only four points away from the top four and will view the match against the stuttering Eagles as a good opportunity to keep the pack at the top within touching distance.

After their bout against Palace, Aston Villa have a tough set of fixtures to negotiate with games against Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton coming in quick succession.

The Eagles have actually looked a lot better than their latest defeat would have you think. They are sitting at 13th but have a relatively healthy points tally of 18 and are just three points away from the top 10.

Reason for Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace predictions:

Crystal Palace have kept just one clean sheet in 14 Premier League games this season.
Aston Villa have conceded 11 goals in their last five Premier League home games.
Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace 2-0 when the teams last faced off in July.
Crystal Palace have won just one of their last six Premier League fixtures.
Villa’s tally of 22 points after 12 games is their best in the Premier League for 19 years.
The Villas have gone three successive Premier League games without conceding for the first time since a run of four between January and February 2010.
Palace have won only five of their past 22 top-flight fixtures (D4, L13).
They have lost just two of their 10 Premier League matches on 26 December (W3, D5) and are unbeaten in all three away fixtures on this date.

Villa have enjoyed an excellent start to the 2020-21 season, winning seven, drawing one and losing four of their 12 league matches to collect 22 points, which has left them in ninth position in the table.

Palace’s overall form in the Premier League this season has been relatively solid, picking up 18 points from their 14 matches to sit 13th in the table, just three points behind 10th-placed West Ham United.

The Eagles have never scored more than once in 17 away league games against Aston Villa, netting 11 goals in total.

Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have squared off 45 times till date. Aston Villa have won 19 while Crystal Palace have won 12. 14 matches have ended in draws. The last time these two sides clashed was in July earlier this year and Aston Villa won 2-0 at Villa Park.

Aston Villa’s recent home form is not encouraging but they will be hoping to turn that around against a rattle Crystal Palace side. Villa Park has not exactly been a great place to visit for the Eagles either and they have failed to score a single goal in their last three visits.

Palace are certainly a lot better then they showed against Liverpool, but we are finding it difficult to back against the hosts here. Smith’s side are without a victory in their last four league games at home – suffering three defeats in the process – but we are tipping Villa to edge a narrow game at Villa Park.

Our Prediction: Aston Villa to win @ 1.80