Everton can squeeze past Palace in huge relegation battle

Jack Harrison can make the difference when the Toffees entertain the Eagles at Goodison Park but Marc Guehi (left) will be missing for the visitors (Picture: MB Media/Getty Images)

A turbulent week for Crystal Palace shows no signs of abating as the Eagles head to Merseyside for a huge showdown with fellow Premier League strugglers Everton.

Both teams are chronically out of form with Palace also without a manager following Roy Hodgson’s sudden illness which required hospital treatment on Thursday.

Paddy McCarthy is stepping up from the coaching ranks to take interim control and it’s been reported 76-year-old former England and Liverpool boss Hodgson will step down as Palace chief, with ex-Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Oliver Glasner taking over on a permanent basis as early as this week.

Hodgson’s last game in charge was a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea last Monday which was particularly harsh as the Eagles were level going into injury-time when the Blues struck twice to take maximum points.

The defeat means Palace are just five points above the Toffees, who are in 18th place, and suffering a wretched run of their own.

Glasner would arrive at the club with a decent track record, having taken Frankfurt to success in the 2022 Europa League final at the end of his first season at the Bundesliga club before reaching the Champions League last 16 the following term.

As for the Monday night duel, the Eagles are still without star players Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Marc Guehi, while Everton will be boosted by the return of Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Everton boss Sean Dyche needs his team to start scoring on a regular basis (Picture: MB Media/Getty Images)

The Toffees have only won once in their last 11 matches in all competitions but that was a 1-0 home success over Palace in an FA Cup replay last month after a 0-0 draw at Selhurst.

Everton manager Sean Dyche will also be encouraged by a decent performance against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last weekend when his side held out for 70 minutes before losing 2-0.

Neither side are particularly prolific so back another home win at 7/10 with Coral and Ladbrokes among others, a 1-0 Toffees victory at 11/2 with bet365 and under-1.5 goals at 9/4 with William Hill and Sky Bet. Jack Harrison is 8/1 with Hills to break the deadlock.

• Manchester City may have dropped two valuable points at home to Chelsea on Saturday but they look value at evens with Betway to retain their Premier League title. Don’t agree? Well, current leaders Liverpool are 2/1 with the same firm, Ladbrokes and Coral while red-hot Arsenal are 17/4 with SpreadEx.

• Alex Rodriguez was a Major League Baseball superstar with the New York Yankees, now he’s primed to hit a home run as an owner with the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

He was part of a £1.19billion takeover of the franchise which was completed at the end of last year and the T-Wolves went into All-Star break at the weekend as the best team in the Western Conference with a 39-16 record. They are worth an each-way nibble at 25/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral to win the title.

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