Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa Predictions

• Crystal Palace have dropped just two points in their last six games.
• The Eagles have scored at least twice in seven of their last nine home matches.
• Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored in each of his last six outings at Selhurst Park.

Villa have achieved their aims for the season

It has been a week for Aston Villa to celebrate as Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City on Tuesday confirmed the Midlanders’ place in next season’s Champions League.

It has been quite a transformation under Unai Emery, who took over a team who looked set for a relegation battle under Steven Gerrard, and they have enjoyed a memorable campaign despite the disappointment of falling to Olympiakos in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

However, they may not be completely on the ball for their final league outing of the season and they will need to be as Crystal Palace are finishing the campaign like a steam train under new Austrian boss Oliver Glasner.

Glasner has fired up the Eagles

After arriving in the middle of February, it took time for his team to gel but the catalyst for their strong finish came with a 1-0 win at Liverpool which was the start of the Reds’ fall out of the title race.

Since then they have posted four wins and a draw against Fulham in five matches and that run has included some excellent results at Selhurst Park.

Benefitting from the availability of star players Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze, they have beaten West Ham 5-2, Newcastle 2-0 and produced a superb display to sink Manchester United 4-0 the last time they were in action at their south London base.

They are no respecters of reputation and should relish the opportunity to bring Villa back down to earth and their free-scoring exploits suggest that backing the home team in a match that generates more than two goals could be the way to go.

Mateta is a massive goal threat

Glasner has certainly turned the Eagles into one of the most watchable teams in the Premier League and one player who has undoubtedly benefited from the Austrian’s guidance is striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.

The French striker struggled to nail down a regular starting spot before Christmas but has been inspirational recently, scoring ten league goals since his new manager’s arrival.

That run includes both goals in the win over Newcastle and another brace in the 5-2 win over West Ham, and the confidence with which he took his goal in the win over the Red Devils was that of a man at the top of his game.

He has scored in his last six games at Selhurst Park and can net again against Villa.