Crystal Palace vs Stockport County Prediction: Nketiah can produce the goods

Crystal Palace have picked up two draws and a win in their last three matches, but what their fans really dream about, is silverware. It means the FA Cup takes on extra importance, as the Eagles aren’t in relegation danger this season, so they might as well go all-out for cup success. 

Oliver Glasner’s men will host League 1 Stockport County on Sunday afternoon, with kick-off at Selhurst Park scheduled for 15:00. The Hatters are currently on the fringes of the play-offs in the third tier, but will be hoping to cause a shock this weekend. Below you will find my Crystal Palace vs Stockport County predictions.

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Even though it shouldn’t be the case given their position in the Premier League, Crystal Palace are likely to ring the changes for this cup tie and give some of their fringe players an opportunity to shine. I’d expect Eddie Nketiah to start up top as minutes have been hard to come by for him given the importance of Jean-Philippe Mateta to this side. 

Matt Turner should start in goal, with the likes of Jeffrey Schlupp, Nathaniel Clyne, Daichi Kamada and Chadi Riad likely to be put in from the start. Youngsters Justin Devenny and Asher Agbinone were both on the bench for the league game against Chelsea, and will hope to get some minutes against lower-league opposition. 

For County, this is going to be a tough test and it will be interesting to see how many changes Dave Challinor wants to make. January isn’t particularly busy in terms of fixtures, and so he may try and keep things relatively simple at Selhurst Park. The big loss of course is Aston Villa’s Louie Barry, who looks set for a loan spell in the Championship having shone for Stockport over the past 18 months. 

Odin Bailey is trying to fill his shoes along with Will Collar and Kyle Wootton up top, but a lot of goals have been removed from this County side. Oliver Norwood and Callum Camps make up an experienced midfield duo, with Norwood playing in the top flight recently with Sheffield United.

In goal, Corey Addai could come back into the team having lost his place to Ben Hinchcliffe earlier in the season. Centre-back Sam Hughes came off at half-time in the defeat to Mansfield but should be fit to play some part here, as Challinor looks to add to his glistening CV with a big cup upset. 

Crystal Palace vs Stockport County Odds

Crystal Palace are priced at 2/7 to win this game, giving them an implied win probability of 77% heading into this tie. Stockport are available at 17/2, which gives you some idea of the size of the task facing Challinor’s men. 

A draw can be backed at 5/1, over 2.5 goals is 4/9 and BTTS is 4/5, which could be worth considering given both teams have found the net in six of the last seven Crystal Palace matches. Mateta is the favourite to score first at 4/1.

Eddie Nketiah to score anytime @ 1/1

We all know about Nketiah’s quality in front of goal,  but unfortunately his move to Palace hasn’t quite worked out as expected. Minutes have been difficult to come by and he’s been used sparingly as a substitute, with his last league start coming on November 2.

In the EFL Cup he was given a chance and scored two goals in three games, so I’d expect Glasner to deploy him from the off here, especially against League 1 opposition. It’s not been that long since he was firing the goals in for Arsenal, and I think he will show his class in this competition. He should be able to find the net against this Stockport side.

Crystal Palace to win and BTTS @ 8/5

I do think that the home side will have too much for Stockport, who look slightly unbalanced since the departure of Barry. Losing a player of his quality was always going to impact them, and they’ve now failed to win their last four matches. However, I do back them to find a goal one way or another. 

They’ve seen both teams score in four of their last five matches, and even though they haven’t been winning games, they have proved to be a threat. Of course, coming up against Palace is a tougher test, but I think with the changes made by Glasner, Stockport can find the net. The Premier League quality should shine through and Palace should progress with relative ease, but I’ll back BTTS to boost our odds to 8/5.

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