Crystal Palace v Brentford: Mateta can make his mark at 7/4 | OneFootball

English Premier League

Crystal Palace have lost just twice in their last 14 Premier League games

Crystal Palace face Brentford in a London derby from Selhurst Park on Sunday. Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is backing the Eagles' in-form forward to get amongst the goals...

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Crystal Palace v BrentfordSunday January 26, 14:00Live on Sky Sports

Palace continue to push forwards

Two goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta gave Crystal Palace a 2-0 away victory at West Ham in the Premier League last weekend, a result that moved the Eagles into 12th in the table. Having started the season winless until the last week of October, Oliver Glasner's group are now enjoying a five-game unbeaten streak, losing just twice in their last 14 league outings.

Glasner maintained that Palace would need time to adapt to the new campaign after numerous incoming and outgoings and he has been proven right with the Eagles now just four points shy of the top-half. The Austrian said, "It's big progress, we're very happy. But it's still January so for us, it is about staying humble and keeping to try and get the result."

Palace's attacking ranks have been strengthed further with the exciting addition of teenage winger Romain Esse on a five-and-a-half-year deal from Millwall. The 19-year-old is available for selection this weekend, whilst Jefferson Lerma could return after missing out with illness. However, Adam Wharton remains sidelined, alongside Rob Holding.

Brentford beaten late on

Brentford boss Thomas Frank was pleased with the Bees' performance despite suffering a late 2-0 home loss to Premier League leaders Liverpool last weekend. The hosts faced 37 shots across the contest as they opted to sit deep and soak up pressure, struggling to pose any serious threat of their own on the counter with striker Bryan Mbeumo left isolated.

Nevertheless, Frank was keen to praise his players post-match, saying: "I thought we played a really good game against the best team in the world right now. We did a lot of things right. We defended very well. We gave the opportunities away but not too big. We probably lacked cutting edge. We had some good chances that never developed into opportunities."

After abandoning their regular 3-5-2 approach against top-six clubs - partly due to the players unavailable - Brentford are expected to continue in their more familiar 4-3-3 formation this weekend. Fiorentina defender Michael Kayode is on the verge of joining on loan and could feature, whilst Kristoffer Ajer is close to a comeback from injury.

Bees' road record causes concern

Crystal Palace and Brentford have crossed swords just seven times since 1978 with all of those encounters arriving in the Premier League following the Bees' arrival in the top-flight back in 2021/22. Five of those seven fixtures have ended all-square, although the Eagles are W2-D1-L1 when welcoming Brentford to Selhurst Park during that sequence.

Crystal Palace 2.14 have lost just two of their last 14 Premier League tussles (W6-D6-L2) with only Liverpool (2) and Arsenal (1) losing fewer matches in that 14-match run. The Eagles are ranked inside the top-eight for Expected Points (xP) during that sample and have posted a creditable W7-D6-L5 at Selhurst Park since Oliver Glasner's appointment.

Brentford's 3.65 22 Premier League games this season have produced an enormous 79 goals with the Bees heavily reliant on their home form thus far. Thomas Frank's team are W1-D2-L4 coming into this clash but have toiled on their travels for quite some time, returning a rotten W6-D4-L19 in away EPL outings going back to the start of last term.

Mateta can make his mark at 7/4

In a tricky contest to unpack, the obvious angle of attack has to be to back Jean-Philippe Mateta to score at 7/4 quotes. Since Oliver Glasner's first Premier League game in charge of Crystal Palace in late February last year, only three players have scored more goals than the French forward's tally of 21 in 35 games. He's also boasting a 29.6% conversion rate.

In the past two Premier League campaigns, Mateta has started 45 games and scored 24 goals - the ratio of an elite forward - and he's found form of late with four goals in his past three league dates. The 27-year-old has a 0.47 Premier League goals per-90 record for Palace and faces a Brentford rearguard that allows a league-high 18.77 shots per-game.

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Back Jean-Philippe Mateta Anytime Goalscorer @ 7/4