Brentford vs Crystal Palace Prediction: Nothing to separate London rivals

Brentford and Crystal Palace will get their Premier League seasons underway with a London derby at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday August 18. Kick-off is at 14:00.

Football Odds

The Bees finished 16th last season, their lowest placing since returning to the top flight, but they were never really in any relegation danger, ending the campaign a full 13 points clear of the drop zone.

Palace enjoyed a superb end to the season following Oliver Glasner's arrival as manager, as they won six of their final seven matches, drawing the other, to eventually finish in 10th.

Read on for my Brentford vs Crystal Palace prediction, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Brentford were dealt a cruel blow over the summer, with club-record signing Igor Thiago suffering a knee injury during pre-season - the forward is facing months on the sidelines.

Josh Dasilva, Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey also remain unavailable, although the latter two are nearing a first-team return, while despite another summer of transfer speculation, Ivan Toney is still a Brentford player and should lead the line on Sunday.

Palace know all about losing key players, with Michael Olise having departed for Bayern Munich, while centre-back Marc Guehi remains top of Newcastle's transfer wish-list.

Guehi is expected to feature on Sunday, as are two of Palace's other stars from last season, Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta, while summer recruits Daichi Kamada and Ismaila Sarr could be handed their competitive bows.

Match Odds

With home advantage, Thomas Frank's Brentford are slight favourites to open the campaign with a victory at 11/8, while Palace are 2/1 to pick up where they left off from last season by collecting all three points.

The last four meetings between these two sides have seen both teams score and it is 4/7 for that trend to continue on Sunday.

Draw @ 5/2

This will be the seventh time that Brentford and Palace have met in the Premier League and five of the previous six encounters have finished all-square, the only exception being the Eagles' 3-1 success at Selhurst Park last December.

All three top-flight meetings at the Gtech Community Stadium have finished level - the last two have been 1-1 - and that trend can continue on Sunday as both teams feel their way into the new campaign.

Brentford drew seven times at home last season - only West Ham had more top-flight stalemates on their own patch - while Palace reached double figures for draws all told.

Jean-Philippe Mateta anytime goalscorer @ 7/4

If one player epitomises Palace's resurgence under Glasner then it is forward Mateta, who scored 13 goals following the German's arrival in south London, more than any other player in the Premier League over the same period.

The Frenchman maintained his fine form over the summer, netting five times at the Olympics to help his country to the silver medal and, despite those exploits, he should lead the line for Palace on Sunday.

With both form and confidence sky high, Mateta should be able to deliver for Palace once again.

Offers

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Betfred are running their famed Double Delight & Hat-trick Heaven Pre-Match offer on this match, meaning that if a player scores first and then nets again, you will be paid at double the odds. If he grabs a hat-trick, you will be paid at treble the odds!

We are Top Price on either side to win in the SIX televised Premier League fixtures! (Ipswich vs Liverpool - available from 07:30 - 12:30).

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