Crystal Palace vs. Fulham – EPL, February 28, 2021

South meets west on Sunday, as another London derby takes center stage in the EPL. Both clubs are far too close to the bottom of the league to take this one lightly.

There has been a huge improvement in Fulham’s results recently, so Palace boss Roy Hodgson will take a lot from his side’s victory over Brighton on Monday and hope for more of the same at home.

Palace has not been playing particularly well recently, but I find it strange that the oddsmakers feel that Fulham should be the favorite to win this one. It will probably be a fairly even game, but that would suggest that it should have been priced with the home side having the shorter odds.

Palace fans will be especially happy that their team beat its rivals, Brighton, on Monday – and the stoppage-time winner will really have been the icing on the cake. But the three points are really important, as the Eagles had started to look like they might even be dragged into a relegation battle.

But now Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored his first goal since his move from Mainz in January – and even Christian Benteke scored to earn the three points. If Mateta has now adapted to the EPL, we might be about to see the kind of form that he was showing in the Bundesliga before Christmas.

Fulham will do well to keep Mateta quiet – and Scott Parker will hope that is the case, as his team has scored fewer goals than everyone in the EPL apart from the two clubs below it in the league. The form might have vastly improved since the turn of the year, but there have not been an awful lot of goals to celebrate for Fulham fans. 

Ademola Lookman scored the solitary goal in the win over Sheffield United last weekend. It was a crucial victory for the Cottagers – and it really has been the influx of loan players in both transfer windows that has made all the difference. Scott Parker will be hoping that their influence can carry on for the rest of the season now.

This fixture does not really seem like the most entertaining game in the Premier League this weekend, but a positive outcome is vital for both sides. The odds favor Fulham, and I think that makes the draw bet even more attractive. With so much riding on this game, the teams might just cancel each other out.