Crystal Palace vs Brighton Prediction and Betting Tips: Back Dunk to pick up a Christmas Card

Brighton make the trip up the M23 to take on Crystal Palace on Thursday evening as Gameweek 18 commences in the Premier League. We’ve got two tips for the clash from Selhurst Park that you can read about below.

The last four meetings between Crystal Palace and Brighton have finished 1-1, however Roy Hodgson’s side come into this latest renewal having lost all of their last four matches on home soil. The Eagles sit 15th in the league table with 17 points, eight above the drop zone.

In their 2-0 defeat against Arsenal last time out at the Emirates, Brighton had their fewest shots on target in a Premier League match under Roberto De Zerbi (1) and faced the most shots (26) in a game under the Italian. Brighton remain in the top-half of the table in ninth, three points behind Newcastle in sixth.

Taking a look at the match results odds and the visitors are the favourites to get the win, priced at 6/5 to do so. The draw can be sided with at 5/2, while a much needed home win for Palace is chalked-up at 21/10.

First up, we are getting behind Michael Olise to record Over 0.5 shots on target in the match, which is available at even money (2.0) at the time of writing.

After injury disrupted the start of his campaign, Olise has been back in the starting XI and has once again been putting in some impressive performances, showing why he is one of the top young players in the division.

Olise calmly put away a penalty against Manchester City to earn his side a point last week and now has two league goals since his return. Looking towards the back end of last season, Olise recorded a shot on target in his final five matches, and in total, he has now recorded a shot on target in eight of his last nine Premier League starts. Brighton have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 21 top-flight outings and the hosts could have plenty of chances here.

For our second selection we are backing Lewis Dunk to be carded. The Brighton defender has collected four yellow cards this season and one more here would mean that he would miss the game on Boxing Day.

Dunk has a family and two children, giving a little more incentive to pick up a card here to enjoy a few drinks on Christmas day with his loved ones. Plenty of money has already come for Dunk to be carded on Thursday, with bet365 now pricing him at just 5/4. We expect this one to shorten before kick-off so take the 17/4 that is available with BetMGM.