STAR PREVIEW: Crystal Palace v Watford

[dropcap]G[/dropcap]ot there in the end (the very end) yesterday.

The Man U / Man U HT/FT bet with Star Sports yesterday was looking a little bleak until Martial’s injury time magic.

Those that took advantage of the Star Sports special on ‘all four teams to score in the FA Cup Semi Finals’ at 3/1 are halfway there. Check this site and the twitter feed for the daily specials.

There’s some frankly ludicrous scheduling going on this afternoon with the second FA Cup Final between Crystal Palace v Watford kicking off at 4pm followed swiftly and concurrently by Leicester v Swansea at 4.15pm – a match which could well seal the fate of the Premier League title.

So much has been made of the FA Cup losing it’s lustre in recent years but this move hardly does much to counter that and is frankly disrespectful to both Palace and Watford for their afternoon of glory at Wembley.

I’m going to stick with the FA Cup and I would love to see it’s out of unfailing loyalty and tradition but it’s actually much more that I really like the chances of Watford!

Crystal Palace v Watford
FA Cup Semi-Final
16:00 BT Sport 2 / BT Sport 2 HD / BT Sport Ultra HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
Feb 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE C Palace 1 – 2 Watford
Sep 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Watford 0 – 1 C Palace
May 2013 CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF C Palace 1 – 0 Watford
Feb 2013 CHAMPIONSHIP Watford 2 – 2 C Palace
Aug 2012 CHAMPIONSHIP C Palace 2 – 3 Watford
Feb 2012 CHAMPIONSHIP C Palace 4 – 0 Watford
Oct 2011 CHAMPIONSHIP Watford 0 – 2 C Palace
Feb 2011 CHAMPIONSHIP Watford 1 – 1 C Palace
Nov 2010 CHAMPIONSHIP C Palace 3 – 2 Watford
Mar 2010 CHAMPIONSHIP Watford 1 – 3 C Palace

STARTING XI

Crystal Palace

13 Hennessey
2 Ward
6 Dann
27 Delaney
23 Souaré
7 Cabaye
15 Jedinak
11 Zaha
42 Puncheon
10 Bolasie
21 Wickham

Watford

18 Pantilimon
2 Nyom
15 Cathcart
3 Britos
16 Aké
22 Abdi
29 Capoue
23 Watson
7 Jurado
24 Ighalo
9 Deeney

Both sides met in the top flight for the first time this season and it was away wins on both occasions with an aggregate score of 2-2. Over the season as a whole there is little to split them with Watford in 12th (41 points) and Crystal Palace in 16th (39 points).

The factor that sways me though is current form. After a great start to the season Crystal Palace’s form has really tapered off and Alan Pardew’s men have only avoided getting involved in the relegation battle by the skin of their teeth. They have only won one of their last 18 league games and it has been in complete contrast to their FA Cup form.

Pardew said: “We’re squeezing games in; the run we’ve had, this is our fourth game in 12 days. That’s a tough run, when you’ve got a semi-final, the biggest game in this club’s history for a while, since the play-off final.”

Watford are also off the boil a little but might have the psychological edge having beaten Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park in February.

Keeping it simple with a Watford win at 23/10 with Star Sports.

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