Sheffied Utd v Crystal Palace | Match Preview, Odds To Bet On and Prediction
Sheffield United welcome Crystal Palace to Bramall Lane for their opening Premier League game on Saturday afternoon. The Blades won promotion from the Championship after finishing second last season but have spent so little money over the summer while losing Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, so the squad isn’t as strong as it could be
Palace are coming off the back of a positive campaign that saw them end the season strongly after a slow start. The Eagles enjoyed more wins than defeats in the last two months of 2022/23, finishing above Chelsea in the table, but they have lost an important player in Wilfried Zaha (27 PL games, seven goals, two assists) which could hamper them.
Roy Hodgson has made only two signings with Matheus França coming in from Flamengo while Jefferson Lerma joined on a free transfer from Bournemouth, so Palace aren’t the finished article either. Nevertheless, the Eagles are slim favourites with the bookmakers to pick up all three points. Palace are 29/20 with Betfair To Win against United. Palace and Sheff Utd are 23/10 with Bet 365 To Draw.
The Blades achieved automatic promotion with 91 points in the Championship, 11 more than third place. They won 28 of their 46 games and conceded only 39 times. Only Burnley had a better home record (54 points) than United (51) too, so Palace won’t have it all their own way. United averaged more than two goals per game in their own backyard and are 23/10 with Bet UK To Win.
Paul Heckingbottom has brought in five new players – Vini Souza (Lommel SK), Auston Trusty (Arsenal), Bénie Traoré (Hacken), Anis Slimane (Brondby IF), Yasser Larouci (Troyes) – opting for cheaper talent from more obscure European clubs which is a risk. This is the highest level these players have operated at by some distance and they’ll be in a side who are underdogs every week. United are 4/6 Odds To Bet On with Betfair to be relegated.
But how about Palace? They’ll be buoyed by how they ended the season with lukewarm expectations for this campaign. Palace weren’t great away from home, losing 10 of their 19 games on the road while conceding more goals than they scored, so United might feel they can make a statement in their opening game.
Palace lost Zaha but does have Eberechi Eze who had a hand in 14 league goals last season, so he’ll be an important player this season. The 25-year-old is 7/1 with Paddy Power to be First Goalscorer and 14/5 with Unibet to Score Anytime. Odsonne Edouard was the third-highest goalscorer after Zaha and is 13/2 with Boylesports to be First Goalscorer on Saturday and 13/5 with William Hill to Score Anytime.
United have threats of their own though, with Benie Traore boasting 12 goals from 14 games in the Swedish top-flight, so he’s 13/2 with Boylesports to be First Goalscorer. The 20-year-old is 5/2 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime. The Blades don’t have the best head-to-head record against Palace, however, losing their last two meetings by a 4-0 aggregate score, so they’ll be underdogs on Saturday.
Only one of their last nine meetings has seen more than three goals scored in total, so Totals Goals Under 3.5 is 1/4 with Bet 365. The last five meetings between United and Palace have seen only one side score too, so Both Teams Not to Score is 19/20 with 888 Sport.
Prediction: Sheff Utd 0-0 Crystal Palace
