Crystal Palace v Burnley: Team news, predictions & odds

The game kicks off at 1730 BST at Selhurst Park, live on BT Sport 1.

Crystal Palace v Burnley: Team news

Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce will have to rejig his defence once again for Saturday's Premier League clash with Burnley.

The Eagles will be without Liverpool loanee Mamadou Sakho (knee) after he was taken off on a stretcher during the midweek defeat to Tottenham.

Fellow centre-backs James Tomkins (leg) and Scott Dann (knee) are also sidelined, so Allardyce is likely to select Martin Kelly and Damien Delaney at the heart of his defence. 

Joey Barton will come out of Burnley's starting line-up.

The midfielder has been banned for 18 months by the Football Association for breaching betting regulations.

Sam Vokes (hamstring) and Scott Arfield (knee) could both come back into Sean Dyche's squad, yet Ben Mee (shin) and Stephen Ward (knee) are doubts too, while Dean Marney (knee) is definitely out. 

Teams

Crystal Palace (from): Hennessey, Speroni, Ward, Kelly, Schlupp, Van Aanholt, Delaney, Fryers, Milivojevic, Cabaye, Flamini, McArthur, Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend, Benteke, Campbell, Chung-Yong, Ledley, Sako. 

Burnley (from):  Heaton, Robinson, Pope, Lowton, Keane, Mee, Long, Ward, Darikwa, Tarkowski, Barton, Flanagan, Defour, Boyd, Hendrick, Westwood, Arfield, Gudmundsson, Vokes, Gray, Agyei, Barnes. 

Crystal Palace v Burnley: Manager quotes

Sam Allardyce (Crystal Palace)

On facing Burnley: "We have to recognise the importance of Burnley being just as important as any of the games we have gone through.

"The lads need to motivate themselves to get to the level they have been to beat Burnley and put it to bed once and for all, get past the 40-point mark and be safe. It is a big effort I will be asking for the players to give.

"Everyone says 'keep your mouth shut' you don't want it to bite you back but I think 41 points will be enough. I think I remember at Blackburn going to Chelsea away and being told we were safe.

"You have a Premier League plan and a Championship plan, hopefully you rub the Championship one out and write the Premier League one in ink. We are just sketching it in in pencil at the moment." 

On  Mamadou Sakho's injury: "I'd like to think it is not serious and he will get back before the end of the season but I'm not sure.

"We are unable to say what the extent of the injury is at the moment. It didn't look to clever the way the knee hyperextended.

"Lets wait for the scan, will probably have to contact Liverpool depending on how serious the damage is. We can't speculate on if, when and how and the seriousness of the injury."

On Sean Dyche: "He has built a very good football club from top to bottom on the stability he has brought to Burnley.

"He has made Burnley owners and directors look at the finance of it and they are actually making money which is a bit unusual for a long time.

"Within that money he has brought in by getting promoted they have evolved at a steady pace, patient, and if you look in the football dictionary you won't find the word patience because there isn't one, but there is at Burnley." 

Sean Dyche (Burnley)

On Joey Barton's 18-month ban: "He feels it's a bit harsh. 

"He's disappointed.

"We equally feel it's a bit harsh. I don't know how you balance all these different things that have happened in football.

"One of the most obvious was the legend that is Eric Cantona kung-fu kicking someone - he got a nine-month ban.

"We know the rules, I must make that clear, and he knows that. But the FA made it quite clear there's no intent other than his own personal gambling, his integrity is intact, it's just his own personal situation - you think 18 months seems a long time to me, in lieu of some of the things I've seen in the game.

"The FA, we understand they have a role and we respect their decision, we have to. In the bigger picture of the sport, they're obviously showing strength in these individual decisions.

"I can only assume they're going to move on to cheating, which is at a level that needs to be sorted out: diving, feigning of injury, falling to the floor. It needs to be sorted out.

"I'm sure they'll next move on to the bigger picture and the greater good of the game." 

Crystal Palace v Burnley: Our prediction 

Our Ben Coley writes... With Sam Allardyce having further enhanced his profile as the go-to get-out-of-jail man, it’s Burnley’s whose need is greater here given that they are only five points clear of the relegation zone.

It’s a remarkable thing when you consider that they’ve secured more points at home than fifth-placed Manchester United, but zero wins, four draws and 13 defeats on the road mean that the job is far from done.

That said, while they’ve very much gone off the boil, Sean Dyche could hardly have penned a friendlier run-in himself, with home games against flapping West Ham and West Brom sides and two trips to bottom-half opponents.

Not that this one will be easy. Palace have won six in nine, living up to their manager’s promise that results would come in the spring, and their sole home defeat came on Wednesday only after a stunning goal from Christian Eriksen.

A relatively quick turnaround must represent some kind of concern, particularly given the intensity with which they’ve been playing, and that’s enough to suggest that there are safer odds-on conveyances on the coupon – even if a strictly numbers-led approach makes Palace bankers.

The enforced absence of Joey Barton is an issue for Burnley but they’ve kept a couple of clean sheets on the road lately, where performances have definitely improved right back to an unfortunate 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in January.

There are just two opportunities remaining to bag an away win and I’ve a sneaky feeling they’ll take one of them, whether here or at Bournemouth. At the prices available, however, it’s an easy decision to speculate without an investment.

Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-2 Burnley

Crystal Palace v Burnley: Opta facts

Crystal Palace have gone 10 league games unbeaten against Burnley on home soil (W4 D6 L0), keeping seven clean sheets in the process. 

Burnley have won just four points from a possible 51 away from home in the Premier League this season (W0 D4 L13). 

Sean Dyche’s side are currently level with their Premier League away record in 2009-10 (four points from 19 away games). The only team to have won fewer points away from home in a complete Premier League season are Derby County in 2007-08 (3). 

The Clarets have only ever gone one season in their history without winning an away league game – in 1902/03 in the second tier. They only have two away games left in 2016-17, including this match. 

Burnley have lost 13 of their 15 Premier League visits to London (W0 D2). They’ve scored just eight goals in the capital, with three of these coming in a single game against West Ham in November 2009 (3-5 defeat). 

Indeed, only Middlesbrough endured a longer wait for a Premier League win in the capital than Burnley’s current run – they went 17 games without victory before beating Spurs 3-0 in September 1998. 

Christian Benteke has scored 14 Premier League goals this season for Palace – however, only 21% (3) of those have come at Selhurst Park. o Six of those 14 goals have been headed – no Premier League player has more this campaign (level with Fernando Llorente, Romelu Lukaku and Michail Antonio). 

Wilfried Zaha has nine Premier League assists this season, the joint-most by a Palace player in a single Premier League campaign (also Wayne Routledge with nine in 2004/05). 

Michael Keane is the only Burnley player to play every minute of their top-flight campaign this season (3060 minutes). 

Crystal Palace v Burnley: Sky Bet odds

Crystal Palace are the odds-on favourites for the victory with Burnley priced at 18/5 with Sky Bet, while the draw is 5/2. The Eagles are seen as all but safe at 200/1 to be relegated, while Burnley are not quite discounted in the market at 20/1 to drop back into the Sky Bet Championship. Christian Benteke is the favourite to score first at 7/2, while Andre Gray is considered the visitors’ main threat at 15/2.   

Click for Sky Bet's Crystal Palace v Burnley odds!