Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace Prediction, 12/26/2020 EPL Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

by Guy Bruhn - 12/23/2020

Game: Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace

Date: Saturday, December 26, 2020

Location: Villa Park in Birmingham, England

TV: Peacock Premium

Odds/Point Spread: Aston Villa (+100) Crystal Palace (+260)

Villa Park is the site where Jack Grealish and Aston Villa (7-1-4, 9th in the EPL) will take on Crystal Palace (5-3-6, 13th in the EPL) on Saturday. The goalkeepers who are expected to start will be Emiliano Martinez for Aston Villa and Jack Butland for Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace are at at +260 while the Villains are at +100. The over/under opens at 2.75.

Aston Villa faced off with West Brom in their last match and notched a win by a score of 3-0. Aston Villa tried 17 dribbles in this match and successfully completed 12 of the attempts for a rate of 70.6%. When discussing the passing game, they finished this match with a 86.0% rate by connecting on 520 out of their 605 targeted passes in their last match. In terms of shooting accuracy, Aston Villa wrapped this game up at a 47.4% rate by putting 9 shots on target of 19 total shots. Aston Villa averages 1.92 g/90 (23 goals in total) and have earned 19 assists in all games for the year.

Jack Grealish is a player who can be a difference maker for Aston Villa. He has totaled 31 assists while accumulating 35 yellow cards during his pro soccer career. Grealish has been given a starting assignment in 166 outings so far in his career and accounts for 0.19 goals per 90 minutes. The forward from England has 33 goals in 15,254 professional minutes. Another player who should impact this match is Ollie Watkins, the forward who is from England. Watkins has totaled 17,002 minutes in 187 career starts and has been given a total of 27 yellow card warnings. He has assisted on a goal 21 times in his career while scoring 72 goals. He currently averages 0.38 goals per 90 mins for his pro soccer career.

The guy who will defend the goal for Aston Villa is Emiliano Martinez. Martinez (31-19-31 mark in his career) has totaled 28 clean sheets, which has him sitting with a 34.6% shutout percentage. The keeper hailing from Argentina has had 367 shots attempted against him in 81 starting assignments. His goals against per 90 minutes is 1.26 (103 goals allowed) and he has a save % of .730. Martinez has seen the field for a total of 7,339 minutes and has 265 stops during his career.

In their last game, Crystal Palace went home defeated by a final of 7-0 against Liverpool. Crystal Palace finished with a 55.6% successful dribble percentage by completing 10 of the 18 dribbles they attempted. They wrapped up this match by completing 308 out of their 394 pass attempts for a percentage of 78.2%. Crystal Palace connected on 3 shots attempted out of their 5 shots attempted giving them a 60.0% clip when they last took the field. With 17 goals and 12 assists for all their games, Crystal Palace averages 1.21 goals and 0.86 assists per 90 min.

Wilfried Zaha will be someone to watch for Crystal Palace. The forward hailing from Cote d'Ivoire has been on the field for 27,643 minutes while he has scored 56 goals. He has totaled 56 yellow cards in his career and has assisted on a goal 41 times. He currently averages 0.18 goals per 90 minutes and has been a starter in 306 contests in his pro soccer career. Make sure to watch out for Andros Townsend, the forward representing England. Townsend has been handed 21 yellow card cautions in 21,423 professional minutes played (245 career starts). His goals per 90 minute average during his career is 0.13. He has earned 31 goals in his career while assisting a teammate on a goal 32 times.

Jack Butland will look after the goal for Crystal Palace. Thus far in his career, Butland has surrendered 363 goals and has tallied 811 stops in 261 starts. He has allowed 1.39 goals per 90 mins and he has a mark of 83-81-98. He has earned a save % of .698 and his clean sheet rate is currently 28.7%. Butland has racked up 75 clean sheets while seeing 1,159 shots against him in 23,535 minutes throughout his career.

Who will win tonight's EPL game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Crystal Palace (+260)

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Start:	December 15, 2024 @ 1:00 PM
Expert:	Doc's Sports

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Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #465 Kansas City Chiefs -5.5 over Cleveland Browns (1p.m., Sunday, December 15 CBS) The Chiefs keep winning games and sooner or later one of those wins will come by a comfortable margin. I look for that to be this Sunday against a Browns team that is just playing out the string. Cleveland currently sits at 3- 10 and will enter this game having lost 4 of their last 5 games. Their only win came against Pittsburgh in a snow game on a short week. All 4 of those losses by the Browns have come over the posted number for this game. Kansas City is better on both sides of the football, and I just do not see the Browns offense keeping pace. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports Weekend card featuring top plays in basketball, football, and hockey. We will feature our World-Famous Nonconference Game of the Year in College Basketball on Saturday. This game has won 13 of the 15 years it has been in existence and it is a must have for any big game hunter. Read More Read Less

Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace Prediction, 12/26/2020 EPL Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

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