• Burnley travel to the capital with only two wins across their previous seven Premier League matches and having been defeated in the FA Cup by Championship side Bournemouth in midweek.
• Napoli lost to Genoa in their last Serie ‘A’ match and another failure will surely see their fading title hopes extinguished.
Image: /reuters
Crystal Palace vs Burnley Saturday 6pm
Inconsistent Crystal Palace have won only two of their previous six Premier League matches with each of the defeats during that sequence adding to their overall record of conceding two or more goals in nine of their 10 league games.
Roy Hodgson’s men have conceded an average of 1.7 goals per game this season — the second-highest average in the league. The South London side have opened the scoring in their previous four home league matches though, going on to win two. Only three PL sides have opened the scoring at home more than Palace’s seven times.
Four of those seven opening home goals arrived in the first 15 minutes — including two of the previous three. Burnley travel to the capital with only two wins across their previous seven Premier League matches and having been defeated in the FA Cup by Championship side Bournemouth in midweek.
Their 3-2 victory over Aston Villa in that sequence was only the second time they’ve scored over 1.5 goals in a league match this season. Additionally, their goals scored average of 0.64 per fixture is the division’s lowest. Only three sides have picked up fewer away league points than the ‘Clarets’.
Notably, their last Premier League away win, 1-0 vs Liverpool, mirrors the result in their last visit to Selhurst Park. Both of the winning goals in those wins arrived after the 60th minute. Crystal palace should win this match-up comfortably.
Head to head
23.11.20 PL Burnley Crystal Palace 1 : 0
29.06.20 PL Crystal Palace Burnley 0: 1
30.11.19 PL Burnley Crystal Palace 0: 2
02.03.19 PL Burnley Crystal Palace 1 : 3
01.12.18 PL Crystal Palace Burnley 2 : 0
Napoli vs Juventus Saturday 8 pm
Napoli lost to Genoa in their last Serie ‘A’ match and another failure will surely see their fading title hopes extinguished.
Their ten-game league form where they have won four, drawn once and lost five, tells a story of inconsistency, but scoring the opener could be vital here, as only one of Napoli‘s last five top-flight matches has been won by the team conceding first.
However, Napoli have lost only once across their last eleven competitive matches at home, keeping a clean sheet in three of the last four. The ‘Partenopei’ are known for thriving against their fellow top-seven sides, winning two of three Serie ‘A’ such encounters here this season, notably netting four goals in both wins.
Jubilant Juventus became Coppa Italia finalists in midweek, and have found some title-race momentum after three straight 2-0 Serie ‘A’ victories. They now look for a fourth win in a row for the first time this campaign.
Additionally, Juventus have beaten a -1 handicap in each of their last eight top-flight victories, winning the first-half ‘to nil’ in 62.5 per cent (that is five matches) of those.
The ‘Bianconeri’ have registered four of their five away Serie ‘A’ wins across their last five trips, netting over 2.5 goals in three. Additionally, Juventus have opened the scoring in seven of their last eight Serie ‘A’ away outings, and their confidence will be further boosted by the fact that they’ve won two of the last three Serie ‘A’ head-to-heads held here.
Head to head
20.01.21 SC Juventus Napoli 2 : 0
17.06.20 COP Napoli Juventus 1 : 0
26.01.20 SA Napoli Juventus 2: 1
31.08.19 SA Juventus Napoli 4 : 3
03.03.19 SA Napoli Juventus 1: 2
Getafe vs Real Sociedad Sunday 4pm
Although a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid during midweek won’t have surprised anyone, that result did extend Getafe’s scoreless run in La Liga to three games — their worst since 2015/16.
Unsurprisingly, their average of just 0.77 goals scored per La Liga match is the division’s worst, and their total of 17 goals is the lowest they’ve ever recorded after 22 La Liga rounds.
At home, Getafe have now failed to score over 1.5 goals in nine straight matches, and as such, all four of their LL home wins this term came with a clean sheet.
They have performed better after half time though, with three of those wins coming after Getafe turned a half time draw into a full-time victory, whilst the hosts have also conceded a joint-league low two second-half goals at home.
Real Sociedad’s 4-1 win last time out has kept them comfortably in sixth place and was their seventh win this La Liga campaign in which they led at half time. It also extended their unbeaten run and have scored two or more goals in 40.91% of their top-flight matches.
While the visitors aren’t performing like they did at the start of the season, they do remain impressive on the road registering a 72.73 per cent unbeaten rate this league campaign. Nine of the last ten head-to-heads that saw a winner featured a one-goal margin — seven finished at 2-1.
Head to head
03.10.20 LL Real Sociedad Getafe 3 : 0
29.06.20 LL Getafe Real Sociedad 2 : 1
06.10.19 LL Real Sociedad Getafe 1 : 2
28.04.19 LL Real Sociedad Getafe 2 : 1
15.12.18 LL Getafe Real Sociedad 1 : 0