Premier League: Everton vs Crystal Palace preview

Apr 15, 2014
Premier League: Everton vs Crystal Palace preview
Everton have just climbed to fourth place in the Premier League table and they will be determined to hang on to it by beating Crystal Palace on Wednesday. The Toffees leapfrogged Arsenal thanks to their 1-0 win at Sunderland on Saturday. If Everton win against Crystal Palace they will remain in fourth spot regardless of what Arsenal do against West Ham on Tuesday. If they manage to cling on to that fourth spot until the end of the season Everton will qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2005/2006 season. Crystal Palace are not the easiest of opponents though, they have won their last three Premier League matches, beating Chelsea, Cardiff and Aston Villa. Everton boss Roberto Martinez wants to get maximum points out of the remaining home games. "We've got three games at home and at Goodison Park our form has been very good but we're going to be heavily tested," he said. "You look at it on paper and Arsenal have got the best run-in, but the good thing about football is nothing works as it should be on paper. We're excited that at this stage of the season we've got enough points to fight for that position and will try to take advantage of our home fixtures - that could be the difference of achieving it or not." Phil Jagielka has an injured hamstring but he is close to making a return for Everton while Steven Pienaar, Darron Gibson and Arouna Kone (all knee), defender Bryan Oviedo (broken leg) and Lacina Traore (hamstring) will be out of contention for Wednesday's match. Palace don't have many injury concerns, the only player that is in doubt for the trip to Goodison Park is Kagisho Dikgacoi who was withdrawn early on at the weekend. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Everton win - 2/5 Draw - 15/4 Crystal Palace win - 9/1
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