Crystal Palace Vs. Aston Villa Prediction: The Villans' Revenge Completion At Selhurst Park

Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, two Aston Villa heroes in an important match (photo: x @WhatTheForkLads)

JAKARTA - Selhurst Park will witness the fierce battle between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in the Premier League on Tuesday night February 25 or Wednesday morning WIB. Both teams tried to win in a row after winning positive results in the previous match. Palace just beat Fulham with a score of 2-0, while Villa beat Chelsea 2-1 in weekend matches.

Crystal Palace entered this match with a record of eight wins, nine draws, and nine defeats to 26 matches in the Premier League this season. With a total of 33 points, they are in 13th place in the standings, 16 points ahead of the relegation zone and 10 points behind Bournemouth who is in sixth place.

Despite being six points behind Fulham in 10th place, Palace still has time to improve their position. However, their main problem this season is the lack of sharpness in scoring goals, which makes it difficult for them to climb to the top.

In the last match, Oliver Glasner's squad managed to beat Fulham 2-0. Joachim Andersen's own goal opened Palace's lead in the first half, before Daniel Munoz made sure of the win with a goal in the 66th minute.

Interestingly, three of Palace's last four wins in all competitions came as they played away. Unfortunately, they actually lost their last two home games in the Premier League, against Brentford and Everton. So far this season, Palace has only won twice at Selhurst Park, which is a challenge for them in this match.

On the other hand, Aston Villa came confidently after an impressive 2-1 win over Chelsea. Marco Asensio became a hero by scoring two goals in the second half, reversing their lag. This result is part of Villa's positive trend, which is now unbeaten in the last four games in all competitions.

Unai Emery's squad had moved up to seventh after a win over Chelsea, but Newcastle United's win over Nottingham Forest saw them drop to eighth. However, they are only two points adrift of Manchester City in fourth place, which still opens up opportunities for them to compete for next season's Champions League ticket.

Villa are also still active in two other competitions. They will face Cardiff City in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Friday, before traveling to Belgium to face Club Brugge in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 on March 4.

However, Villa must be vigilant because they have never won in the last three matches against Palace in the Premier League. In fact, at the last meeting at Selhurst Park in May 2024, they had to lose 5-0. Therefore, this match will be a means of retaliation for the Lions.

Crystal Palace will still lose three players in this match, namely Joel Ward, Cheick Doucoure, and Chadi Riad. However, no new injuries were suffered by their squad.

Jean-Philippe Mateta is the player to watch out for in this match. The French striker has scored 14 goals and provided three assists in 31 appearances this season. In addition, Eberechi Eze, who has collected six goals and six assists, is also predicted to appear from the start.

In midfield, Adam Wharton is still in the process of recovering from injury, so he will most likely only sit on the bench.

In the Aston Villa camp, five players are still absent, namely Ross Barkley, Pau Torres, Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, andria Mings. However, Axel Disasi was confirmed to return to the squad after missing the match against Chelsea due to loan players' rules.

Morgan Rogers is also likely to be able to play despite a hard impact in the previous match. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford, who performed impressively with two assists as a substitute in the last match, is expected to start in the left wing position.

Marco Asensio, who scored twice against Chelsea, will continue to play in the attacking midfield position, while target Watkins, who has scored twice in the last three games, will return to lead Villa's front line.

Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are both in pretty good form ahead of this game. Palace does have a bad record at home this season, but they are in positive momentum after a win over Fulham.

On the other hand, Villa came with high motivation to avenge their 5-0 defeat at Selhurst Park last season. They are also still in tight competition for the top four, so the win in this match is very important.

The key to the match will be in the midfield duel between McGinn-Tielemans and Hughes-Lerma. If Villa can dominate possession and take advantage of Asensio's creativity and Rashford's speed, they have a chance of getting a positive result.

However, Palace has players who can threaten Villa's defense, such as Mateta and Eze. If they can take advantage of the gaps in Villa's backline that have lost some key players, Palace has the potential to secure points at home.

Crystal Palace (3-4-3): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Mateta, Eze

Aston Villa (4-2-3-1):Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Disasi, Maatsen; McGinn, Tielemans; Rogers, Asensio, Rashford; Watkins

Score prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Aston Vill