Premier League | Gameweek 25

Feb 15, 2025 at 5.30pm UK

Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace vs Everton

Match preview

David Moyes and Everton may need more than two days off to recover from the chaotic scenes at Goodison on Wednesday night, which saw one of the most remarkable finishes to a game anywhere in Europe this season.

Tarkowski's one-in-a-million strike sent Gwladys Street into a frenzy, with fans spilling onto the pitch in the celebrations that followed, and the scenes were repeated minutes later when VAR confirmed the goal was correct.

When all the emotion and delirium is put to one side, Everton will also realise that Wednesday's draw has moved them another step closer to safety, with Moyes' men now comfortably 10 points clear of the relegation zone.

On a night when a point was the absolute minimum they deserved, Everton held Liverpool to their lowest xG (0.64) and lowest number of shots (six) of the season, demonstrating their continued improvement under Moyes.

Having taken 10 points from a possible 15 since Moyes replaced Sean Dyche, they now face a Crystal Palace side who have a very impressive recent record against them.

Despite being winless in their last seven trips to London, Everton's last success in the capital came against Palace in November 2023, the last time they managed more than one away win in a row.

Moyes won his only other away game in charge since returning to Everton at Brighton & Hove Albion last month, and the visitors will know that a win would move them above both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur and level on points with Palace.

The Toffees are unbeaten in the last eight editions of this fixture, four of which came last season when they also met in the third round of the FA Cup, a tie that needed a replay to be decided.

Dwight McNeil's double helped Everton to a 2-1 win at Goodison earlier this season, extending Palace's miserable run in this fixture to just two wins in 23, but surprisingly the Toffees have not completed a league double over Palace since Moyes' first spell in charge in 2004-05.

However, the Eagles will be full of confidence going into the clash, thanks to a recent run of excellent form that has seen them out of trouble.

Oliver Glasner's men won just three of their opening 18 league games of the season, but have now won four of their last six and have kept five clean sheets in their last six games in all competitions.

However, it seems unlikely that Palace will be able to mount a late charge for Europe, even if England are awarded an extra place by UEFA, with Glasner's side sitting in 12th place, seven points adrift of eighth-placed Aston Villa.

Palace won on the road again last week, beating Doncaster Rovers 2-0 in the FA Cup fourth round to set up a tie with fellow Londoners Millwall, but their form at home in 2025 has not been as reliable.

This will be the Eagles' third game at Selhurst since the turn of the year and they are still searching for their first win, having drawn with Chelsea and lost to Brentford.

Recent Performance

Crystal Palace Premier League form:WDWWLW

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):WWWLWW

Everton Premier League form:LLWWWD

Everton form (all competitions):LWWWLD

Team News

Palace will be without Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure for the rest of the season with serious knee injuries, while Eddie Nketiah (ankle), Eberechi Eze (foot) and Ismaila Sarr (illness) are all doubtful but expected to return.

Adam Wharton returned to the side last week, making his first start since October against Doncaster and playing an hour, suggesting he is ready to feature in the Premier League opener.

Ben Chilwell was given 45 minutes on his Palace debut, but having barely featured for Chelsea in the first half of the season, he may take a little longer to return to full fitness.

Everton will be without Abdoulaye Doucoure after his antagonistic antics in front of the Liverpool fans on Wednesday sparked a brawl at full-time and resulted in him being sent off.

The injury to Everton's star man Iliman Ndiaye was a sobering moment on Wednesday night and while no official prognosis has been given, early indications are that it could be serious.

In the absence of Doucoure and Ndiaye, Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Harrison are likely to start, with the former set for a full debut, and they will provide support for Beto, who scored his third goal in two league games to open the scoring in the derby.

Possible starting lineup

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Mateta, Eze

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Lindstrom, Gueye, Garner, Alcaraz, Harrison; Beto