Saturday Premier League Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Fulham vs. Crystal Palace (Oct. 24)

Fulham vs. Crystal Palace Odds

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Clubs hoping to find their respective ways go at it Saturday when Fulham hosts Crystal Palace in Premier League action at Craven Cottage.

Both sides find themselves looking for answers in the early part of their campaigns, with the Cottagers having the worst go of it thus far. Fulham is at the bottom of the table among the 20 teams playing in England's top flight.

On the other side, Crystal Palace is only slightly better in the standings, currently positioned in 14th place.

A victory here would surely do both a ton of good at the moment, so expect both to come out chasing all three points in this showdown.

That said, let's take a deeper look at the sides:

Fulham

Things could not be going worse for Fulham, which has one measly point through five matches. The only plus for the Cottagers is the fact that lone point came in a 1-1 draw against Sheffield United in its most recent game.

Obviously, Fulham is going to want to build on that performance, with the hope of getting itself clear of the relegation zone. Something else to keep in mind is the fact Fulham played an awfully good match in a 1-0 loss against Wolves, which is tied for fourth (but is actually sixth due to the tiebreaker) on the table, just two fixtures back.

Manager Scott Parker has a relatively healthy side that didn't pick up any new knocks in that Sheffield draw, so you could see him send out a similar Starting XI in search of its first victory.

The Cottagers are not as bad you'd think when it comes to the numbers, sitting on a subpar 5.3 expected goals and a very poor 7.7 expected goals against this season. That results in a -2.4 xGDiff and -0.49 xGDiff/90 minutes.

Expected goals (also known as xG) is an advanced statistic that gives an indication of whether results are based on sustainable factors like a steady creation of scoring chances, or whether it is down to aspects such as luck or outstanding goalkeeping.

Crystal Palace

Meet the hardest team to get a read on in the entire league.

Crystal Palace opened its campaign with a 1-0 shutout win against Southampton before pulling off a shocking 3-1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford. However, the Eagles are 0-2-1 since that effort and can't seem to regain that early-season magic.

Wilfried Zaha has led the Crystal Palace line, racking up four of its six goals in league play . Zaha clearly needs help in the Eagles' offensive third, largely due to the fact clubs continue to step up their defending on the team's lone, true scoring threat.

When comparing its statistical data against Fulham, Crystal Palace is surprisingly worse in every category. The Cottagers have 3.5 expected goals and 7.9 expected goals against, resulting in a -4.4 xGDiff and -0.87 xGDiff/90 minutes.

For me, that does not bode well for the visiting side, in what is an extremely close matchup on paper.

Betting Analysis

If there was ever a time Fulham could secure all three points, this would be it.

The Cottagers were arguably the better side against Sheffield United and deserved a better outcome. As previously mentioned, Crystal Palace is winless since that victory against Manchester United, which doesn't give me much confidence in the side to land all three points in this spot.

That said, I am backing Fulham on the spread line. Again, this is an ideal situation for the Cottagers to get the first victory and slowly inch away from the bottom of the table.

I will also play the total to go over the number as well. The two sides have given up a combined 12 goals in their last three matches, which doesn't have "low-scoring result" written on this affair.

Play both angles with confidence.

Picks: Fulham — Draw No Bet (-110); Total Over 2 Goals (-148)

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