Palace at home in the Prem — how do our writers see this one going?
Martin Wanless predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Palace 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Mayenda
Palace are struggling a bit at present and back on home turf we’ll hopefully have enough to get past them and get a welcome 3 points on the board.
I reckon Mayenda is due a goal – he’s playing well and can cause Palace problems, so I’m going for him to score first in a reasonably comfy 2-0.
‘The Champion’ Malc Dugdale predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Palace 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer:Brobbey
Palace are in a right mess. Manager on the way out with one of his star players, loads of injuries, and no decent results for some time.
In days gone by, this would be a guaranteed SAFC capitulation, but this team is made of sterner stuff, so this is a great chance for Regis and the boys to take advantage of this game and the next couple before we have a couple of more tricky ones.
Brian is a monster of a striker for his age and with Guehi out and other forced changes for the visitors, I can see Brobbey opening things for us, assuming he is fully fit after the cup victory. Maybe a set-piece move can get the second to enable a relaxed and controlled conclusion to the game.
Jack Howe-Gingell predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Palace 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Le Fee
An interesting one, this. Palace have dropped a little into the lower mid-table, and have had one of the worst results in their history, courtesy of a poor showing away to non-league Macclesfield. You’d expect them to want to bounce back after that humiliation, and that’s the main thing we need to guard against.
We’ll likely be able to call upon the returning Reinildo, after his heroics with Mozambique, with Noah Sadiki already playing since coming home, so I’d expect to see him, also. Both are a massive boost, with their quality and work rate.
Both us and Palace are on a winless run, but we are a force to be reckoned with at home, and we’ll want to get back amongst the wins. The Everton performance was a marked improvement over some recent results, with the intense festive period just proving a bridge too far.
With Reinildo and Sadiki reinstated to starting action, I’d back us all day. After getting the misjudged Panenka out of his system, I fancy Le Fée to add another after his superb volley last weekend, and carry us to victory.
Will Jones predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Palace 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Le Fee
Palace haven’t won in nine across all competitions, and you can see the confidence draining out of them. They look flat, stretched, and desperate for something to go their way. That usually makes me nervous, but at home we’ve been too strong to let a team in that sort of rut dictate anything.
We’re rested, we’ve got bodies back, and the mood’s lifted after the cup win. If we play with any kind of tempo, Palace won’t live with us for long spells.
Le Fée feels the obvious shout to break it open – sharp, busy, and looking more dangerous every game.
Take advantage of their slump, keep our home run going, job done. Haway the lads.
Matty Foster predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Palace 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Mayenda
It’s back to league normality after our shootout win over Everton, and we face a Crystal Palace side bang out of form.
It’s six without a win in the league, on top of being the casualties of the magic of the FA Cup.
The lads have had a bit longer rest than they’ve had in recent weeks, with plenty of time to prepare to defend our perfect home form.
I was erring on the side of caution with another draw, but I have a feeling in my bones that we get all three here.
With ourselves winless since beating the visitors, I’ll take a sneaky 1-0 today.
Anthony Gair predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Palace 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Sadiki
Palace have a dreadful run of form ongoing at the moment, and I hope we turn up on Saturday to make it even worse.
The issue I have is that they’re coming off the back of one of the (statistically) most embarrassing results in football history in the FA Cup.
Teams love to have a bounce back against us, and this is always a thing.
Up to you, Regis mate! Get them telt!
Gary Winter predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Palace 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Le Fee
Morale is lifted high again, as is always the case after being triumphant in a penalty shoot-out. Confidence is elevated, too, with the return from AFCON of some big misses. You could see the difference Sadiki makes to the team, and I’m excited to have Reinildo back too to inject some freshness and quality.
Prior to mid-December, Crystal Palace’s away form was actually very impressive, and it’s still the 6th best in the league. They’ve had a dreadful run in all competitions in the past month – 9 games without a win and victims of an FA Cup giant killing last weekend. Aside from the potential of them trying put that right, this feels like a great time to play them.
We’ve now got to find the net and create more, having failed to score more than 1 goal in a match in a 9-game run stretching back to the 29th of November. I’m backing us to keep matters tight in usual fashion, and Le Fee to continue to show his character and prolong his goalscoring ascent.
Brett Lyons-Davis predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Palace 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Xhaka
Palace have been poor of late, with no wins in the league since the start of December. The extra games the conference league football has given them won’t have helped, as they have slid down the league. They will go into this one, though, as a wounded animal seeing them let go of their grasp on the FA Cup at the first attempt to non league opposition.
The lads, on the other hand, will no doubt have had a buzzing training ground following victory at Everton, the majority of the African lads returning from AFCON, and no games midweek will help recharge those very well worn battery’s.
Can’t see anything but a win this weekend with Granit Xhaka getting us off the mark.
Last Time Out…
After the disappointment at Brentford, the Lads could not have bounced back much better in their victory at Everton’s new gaff on the banks of the Mersey.
Le Fee more than atoned for his Panenka error with a great goal and a lethally smashed pen, and if it was not for the Ref needing a trip to Specsavers, the game would have been all over without extra time or spot kicks.
A great cup game and a great goalkeeper ensured our progression, thankfully.
Now we resume league action, and the somewhat turbulent Palace are next up. With this and the next two games being a lot less scary than those to follow, the boys will be hoping to get a W and 3 points at the SOL today.
Last Game Predictions…
It was a tough ask to predict how the game would go and whether it would be sorted in 90 minutes, 120, or through a shootout.
Nobody backed Le Fee to banish his demons from open play, and only Malc the Predictions gaffer managed to call that we would be level after extra time, and that we would win on Pens.
Predictions Table & Standings
Gary now has company at the top with last season’s champ Malc getting level after the FA cup round 3 outcome.
No other major changes, though with only 4 points from third down to sixth, this week’s result could bring more into the top of the table challenge, or could start to open up gaps in the table as we progress into the second half of the season proper.
How the points are awarded
Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:
- Correct score = Three points
- Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
- Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = One point (no goalscorer is a valid call)
- Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = a two-point deduction.
Category: General Sports
