Fulham vs Crystal Palace Prediction: Eagles to soar into the semi-finals

Fulham welcome Crystal Palace to Craven Cottage on Saturday (12:15, ITV1) for their FA Cup quarter-final tie. The hosts went into the international break on a high with a 2-0 victory at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. Palace are in fine form, though, winning four in a row across all competitions, including a league win here on February 22.

With many of the top dogs in English football eliminated, there is a huge opportunity for the teams that are left and both will be desperate to book their place at Wembley Stadium for the semi-finals. Read on for my Fulham vs Crystal Palace predictions, aided by the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

Team News

Fulham boss Marco Silva is going to be wary of Palace's form and will want to have his players better-organised for this visit of the Eagles. The Cottagers are having to cope without the services of Harry Wilson (foot), Reiss Nelson (thigh) and Kenny Tete (knee) due to injury.

They can welcome back combative midfielder Sasa Lukic following the completion of his two-game suspension against Tottenham last time out. Adama Traore was fit to make a cameo in that match, having been struggling with an ankle issue beforehand.

The wide man looks likely be restored to the starting line-up on the right flank, which should see Alex Iwobi move back over to the left and Willian subsequently dropped down to the bench.

Joachim Andersen will get another crack at his former employers, and he'll be hoping that he can avoid scoring an own goal on this occasion. He is set to feature in an unchanged back four featuring Calvin Bassey, Antonee Robinson and Timothy Castagne.

Crystal Palace have been boosted by the news that star striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has been cleared to play on Saturday. The Frenchman has been out of action since the beginning of the month after a collision with goalkeeper Liam Roberts in the fifth-round victory over Millwall.

The Eagles are still having to cope without Chadi Riad, Cheick Doucoure (both knee) and Joel Ward (calf) due to injury, however. Midfielder Will Hughes may have another game to miss in the Premier League but he is available to play his part in this quarter-final, which will please boss Oliver Glasner.

Hughes is likely going to start in the engine room, and Glasner must decide whether to play Jefferson Lerma or Adam Wharton beside him. Ben Chilwell and Tyrick Mitchell will battle it out for the left wing-back spot, while Daniel Munoz is unchallenged on the other flank.

Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr are set to play behind the striker, which is expected to be Mateta, while Eddie Nketiah would drop down to the bench.

Fulham vs Crystal Palace Odds

Fulham have won two of their last four home games coming into this clash, and they are 11/8 to prevail in normal time. The Cottagers' last round in the cup ended in a draw after 90 minutes and the stalemate is priced at 9/4 on this occasion.

Crystal Palace have won four matches on the bounce across all competitions, including a win at Craven Cottage during that run. They are 21/10 (which has an implied probability of 32.3%) to win in regulation time.

Crystal Palace and both teams to score (in 90 mins) @ 5/1

Palace have built a lot of momentum in recent weeks, and they will probably be disappointed that the international break fell when it did. Regardless, the Eagles are riding a wave of confidence and I think we are seeing the best of them at the moment.

After Glasner's impressive start at the club last season, there were murmurs that Palace could upset the status quo this season with regard to European places. They started much slower than most anticipated but they have improved so that they are in an FA Cup quarter-final, while the European spots in the Premier League aren't out of reach either.

Fulham are an enigma because there are times when they look brilliant, and others when they do not. You never quite know what you're going to get from Silva's men as each game comes around, and it is because of this that I think Palace are worth backing on Saturday.

The Eagles have been consistent in recent weeks and the return of Mateta just amplifies their chances of victory. Unlike the past two meetings between the two teams this term I do think we will see goals at both ends. This is because of the high stakes of the match, as well as the fact that BTTS has been a successful bet in six of Fulham's previous eight fixtures in all competitions.

Jean-Philippe Mateta anytime goalscorer @ 7/4

Mateta's importance to Crystal Palace cannot be overstated. He has been a revelation since Glasner came through the door last year and has netted 24 goals in 39 games under the Austrian.

The striker has scored 12 in the Premier League this season, and he is on track to surpass last year's total of 16 with 11 games to go. He is yet to get off the mark in the FA Cup this term, but I fancy him to make an impact in a game of this magnitude.

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