Both aiming to bounce back from disappointing defeats last weekend, bottom-half battlers Crystal Palace and Bournemouth square off in Saturday's Premier League showdown at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles were put to the sword 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur in last weekend's London derby, while the Cherries were the victims of a 3-1 Chelsea beating in front of their own fans.

Match preview

One week after both sides had come out on different ends of the scoreline in 4-3 thrillers, Crystal Palace and Tottenham soured the mood slightly with a drab London derby last weekend, where only a landmark Harry Kane goal could separate the two capital sides.

The England captain headed in his 209th top-flight strike on the stroke of half time to sink Roy Hodgson's side, who showed a few flickers of life in attack but were otherwise comfortably quelled by the Lilywhites for their third scoreless game in four matches.

However, sitting 10 points clear of the drop zone with only nine points left to play for, Hodgson has achieved his number one target of confirming Palace's Premier League survival, sitting pretty on the sought-after 40-point mark in 12th spot and only two points worse off than Chelsea.

Since Hodgson made his return to the Selhurst Park hotseat, the Eagles have taken a respectable seven points from their last three home games and have only been beaten once on their own match in their last eight outings - even then Manchester City could only prevail 1-0.

With mid-table Fulham and relegation-battling Nottingham Forest to come in their final two games, Palace have little to fret about between now and the end of the campaign, and the same can very nearly be said for their upcoming visitors.

Haunting a London club for the second time in the space of a few weeks, Bournemouth left-back Matias Vina scored a peach of an equaliser for the Cherries against Chelsea, having also made the net ripple in their sensational win at Tottenham Hotspur last month.

Vina's effort came after Conor Gallagher had headed Chelsea in front, but Gary O'Neil's side were left to rue a late collapse, as Benoit Badiashile restored Chelsea's lead from a Hakim Ziyech free kick before Joao Felix came off the bench to wrap up Frank Lampard's first win from his second spell as manager.

While lamenting a spate of defensive errors, a bullish O'Neil insisted that Bournemouth still deserved something out of their defeat to Chelsea, which leaves the Cherries 14th in the table and within just one point of confirming their spot in the big time for 2022-23.

A run of four wins from six has propelled Bournemouth away from the dreaded dotted line, and playing on rival turf has not fazed the South Coast outfit, who have claimed successive victories over Leicester City, Tottenham and Southampton on the road and could now win four consecutive Premier League games away from home for the first time ever.

Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze were on target as Palace eased to a 2-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium earlier this season, which marked the Eagles' fourth win on the bounce over the Cherries, who have not kept a clean sheet against their London counterparts since their first Premier League meeting in 2015.

Team News

Palace's scarcely-seen midfielder James McArthur missed the trip to Spurs with a fresh hamstring issue but he has been passed fit for this game, while James Tomkins (calf) and Nathan Ferguson (muscle) also occupy beds in the treatment room.

The hosts have been dealt two fresh midfield concerns, though, as Luka Milivojevic is out with an unspecified concern, while Jeffrey Schlupp and Naououri Ahamada are both doubts.

Hodgson did not see a lot wrong with their performance in North London, so a similar - if not identical XI - will likely take to the field this weekend.

The veteran coach showed against Wolverhampton Wanderers that he is not afraid to tinker with his lineup, but that experiment ended miserably, so the likes of Albert Sambi Lokonga and Odsonne Edouard will likely remain content with places on the bench.

As for Bournemouth, striker Kieffer Moore is in with a chance of recovering from concussion to make the matchday squad this weekend, but Ryan Fredericks and Junior Stanislas are no closer to returning.

Marcus Tavernier's thigh injury could also rule him out until the end of the season, while Hamed Traore is also dealing with a contact injury to his foot and may not be back until Bournemouth's final meeting with Everton on May 28.

O'Neil hooked Joe Rothwell just before the hour mark in the defeat to Chelsea, so Lewis Cook may be feeling somewhat optimistic of a first Premier League start in midfield since January.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Eze, Doucoure, Schlupp; Olise, Ayew, Zaha

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Smith, Senesi, Kelly, Vina; Ouattara, Lerma, Rothwell, Christie; Billing; Solanke

We say: Crystal Palace 2-1 Bournemouth

Without Traore or Tavernier bombing forward, Bournemouth lose a considerable chunk of bite in their attacking play, but recent successes on the road for the Cherries could lead to some apprehension within the Palace camp.

Hodgson's side are far from predictable in the final third either, but their efforts to frustrate Tottenham worked well for the most part, and the Eagles can harness their hardiness at Selhurst Park to come away with all three points, but not without a fight.


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