Bournemouth v Crystal Palace: Prediction, Tips and Odds

There is plenty of festive cheer surrounding Bournemouth at the moment, with the UEFA Champions League chasing Cherries set to welcome Crystal Palace to the Vitality Stadium on Boxing Day.

Having taken 13 points from the last 15 available, Andoni Iraola's side head into this fixture sitting fifth in the Premier League, above the likes of Aston Villa and Manchester City and just three points off the top four.

Confidence will certainly be high within the Bournemouth camp following Sunday's 3-0 win at Manchester United and they will be hopeful of seeing off a Palace side that have been improving, but were brought back down to earth by a 5-1 home loss to Arsenal last time out.

Bournemouth v Crystal Palace betting tips and predictions

Bournemouth to win and both teams to score - 13/5

This could prove an historic season for Bournemouth, who have only once before finished in the top half of the Premier League, but on current form, they could mount a serious challenge for Europe over the second half of the campaign.

Sunday's comprehensive win against United - their second successive 3-0 victory at Old Trafford - was the latest in a growing list of eye-catching results for the Cherries this season, as they have also seen off Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.

Those three victories all came on home soil and Bournemouth have been making the Vitality something of a fortress of late, winning four of their last six at the venue.

The Cherries will be confident of adding another success on Boxing Day when Palace come to town, with the Eagles having seen their own recent return to form brought to an end by Arsenal.

Prior to Saturday's 5-1 loss to the Gunners, Oliver Glasner's side had put together a five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League to ease their relegation concerns.

While their performance was better than the final result suggested against Arsenal, it will still be difficult for Palace to bounce back on Thursday, particularly as Bournemouth did the double over them last season.

There is scope for the Eagles to score on the south coast though, as they have netted in seven successive games across all competitions and in 10 of their last 11, while Bournemouth's clean-sheet against United was only their second in nine matches.

Bournemouth over 15.5 shots - 5/6

Bournemouth have been a front-foot side this season and that is reflected in the amount of efforts they have had towards goal, with only Manchester City (294) mustering more shots than the Cherries total of 280 in the Premier League.

While they only managed an uncharacteristically low nine efforts in the win at United, that was just the second time in six matches that they have failed to go over 15.5 shots, a sequence that includes having 29 strikes in their last home fixture against West Ham.

The Cherries also produced 20+ efforts in recent victories against Ipswich and Tottenham, while individually only Manchester City's Erling Haaland has managed more shots in this season's top-flight than Bournemouth ace Antoine Semenyo.

Semenyo has fired off 67 efforts on goal across his 16 league appearances, while team-mates Evanilson (34) and Marcus Tavernier (32) have also gone beyond the 30 mark, with Justin Kluivert (29) not far behind.

With so many players in form and not afraid to get efforts away, Bournemouth should be able to go beyond the 15.5 threshold for shots against a Palace side that have allowed 31 across their last two league games against Brighton and Arsenal.

Daniel Munoz to be booked - 2/1

Palace will be boosted by the return of wing-back Daniel Munoz for this game after the Colombian missed Saturday's loss to Arsenal through suspension after picking up his fifth Premier League yellow card of the season against Brighton.

The 28-year-old also missed the recent EFL Cup loss to the Gunners due to a ban and he has been carded seven times across 19 appearances in league and cup this term.

Munoz has certainly become familiar to referees since arriving in south London last January, picking up 11 cards in total since making his Palace debut, and he could be in for a busy afternoon on the south coast dealing with the likes of Semenyo, Evanilson and Kluivert.

With four of his five yellow cards in the league this season coming in away games and with the next suspension threshold a long way off, it would be no surprise to see Munoz pick up another caution at the Vitality.

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Bournemouth v Crystal Palace odds

Bournemouth - 17/20
Draw - 14/5
Crystal Palace - 3/1

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.