Can Palace push for top half against Championship bound West Brom?

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Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace have the perfect opportunity to get amongst Arsenal and Wolves in the top half of the Premier League, facing a West Brom side destined for the Championship on 18 points.

The last time these two sides met, Palace came out as the victors in a 5-1 demolition at the Hawthorns in December. Striker Christian Benteke got two goals that day and has now found recent form scoring the winner in the derby against Brighton and picked up a goal in their last game against Spurs, despite ultimately falling to a 4-1 defeat.

Benteke, the former Liverpool player, came to Palace with big expectations in 2016 and delivered in his first season for the Eagles, scoring 15 goals in the Premier League. But Benteke has only scored six goals since, across the last three seasons.

This season is Benteke’s best return to form since his first campaign in a Palace shirt with five goals so far. Having scored in his previous game, he is facing a side with who he scored a brace against in December.

Palace are without Tyrick Mitchell, who has a knock and James McArthur, who has a muscle problem. James McCarthy has a groin problem and is said to be a doubt. But the most important news is that Wilfried Zaha is now fully fit from a thigh strain he picked up against Newcastle.

Palace, and Benteke, will be boosted by the return of their talisman. Zaha made a 45-minute appearance in his comeback last game, which ruled him out for a month.

Zaha is Palace’s top scorer with nine goals so far in the Premier League and will see tomorrow’s game against whipping boys West Brom as a chance to get back on the scoresheet again and into double figures for the season.

In their last five matches, without Zaha, Palace have only won once, and across the 24 games they’ve played without Zaha in the squad, they’ve lost 19. So, you’d expect Zaha to have a significant impact against a West Brom side who have shipped 56 goals in the Premier League this season?

West Brom are desperate for any point they can get to complete an unlikely great escape from the drop zone. Like Palace, West Brom beat Brighton recently and followed up with a respectable 1-0 defeat to Everton and picked up a point against Newcastle in their last game.

Sam Allardyce, coming up against his former club, faces his most demanding job to keep a club up from the Championship. West Brom are 8 points behind Fulham and Brighton, who are getting clear of the relegation zone. He faces another former England manager in Roy Hodgson tomorrow looking to break down Palace’s attack.

Every game is a must-win game for West Brom if they want to keep their Premier League status. Albion have a fully fit squad, but to win against Palace, they will have to keep a front three of Benteke, Zaha and Eze all quiet. The trio have 23 goals between them, and Albion have conceded the most goals out of any Premier League team this season.

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