English FA Cup

Fulham v Crystal Palace Tips: Eagles backed on the Asian Handicap

Mark O'Haire
29 Mar 2025
3.00 min read

Fulham and Crystal Palace face-off in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday. Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is backing the Eagles in the Asian Handicap market.

Fulham eliminated in their last four quarter-final appearances
Palace impressing in the Premier League of late
Eagles have already won at Craven Cottage this season

Betfair Saturday Football Superboost

The FA Cup quarter-finals begin with a London derby at Craven Cottage where Fulham host Crystal Palace and it's a visiting player who takes centre stage in the Betfair Saturday Football Superboost.

Jean-Philippe Mateta has registered 12 shots on target in his last 10 games and Betfair have boosted the price on him having one or more here from 1/21.50 to 1/12.00.

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Back Mateta to have 1 or more shots on target (was 1/2)

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Fulham v Crystal Palace
Saturday March 29, 12:15
Live on ITV

Fulham leave it late

Fulham strengthened their bid for European qualification by beating Tottenham 2-0 at Craven Cottage before the international break. Rodrigo Muniz and Ryan Sessegnon scored in the closing 15 minutes to breathe life into what had been a largely drab Premier League clash with only two shots on-target landed across the contest in the opening 65 minutes.

Cottagers boss Marco Silva would not have been happy with how his side performed for 75 minutes. His side were lacking in creativity and decisiveness, but one passage of play changed the feeling of the game, with Fulham winning the ball high up the field and eventually working it to Muniz who finished in fine fashion to break the deadlock.

Speaking post-match, Silva said: "All of the first half was in our offensive half. We had some good moments but the last pass, the last cross wasn't the best. At half-time the conversation was to be more patient. We're very happy to win and to be where we are right now in the league is a privilege for us. It means we are doing something very good."

Palace continue fine recent form

Ismaila Sarr scored the only goal of the game as Crystal Palace won their fourth match in a row to beat Ipswich in a scrappy encounter at Selhurst Park before the international break. Without key striker Jean-Philippe Mateta leading the line, the Eagles had to wait until the 82^nd minute to make their breakthrough in a match that largely lacked quality.

The result means Palace continue their fine form and have lost just twice in their past 14 games. The Eagles have since taken the opportunity to go on a mid-season break to Marbella in preparation for their season-defining FA Cup clash on Saturday with Mateta since being passed fit for the weekend with the 27-year-old wearing a protective mask.

Looking back on the Ipswich performance and analysing Palace's recent upsurge, head coach Oliver Glasner said, "We are really proud because it's a third win in a row in the Premier League. It's a tough thing for any team to do and these guys did it. It's a great statement. We know have to make sure we are ready for the crunch time."

Cottagers can be opposed

Fulham have won only three of their last 14 meetings with Crystal Palace dating back to 2013 (W3-D5-L4) with the Cottagers struggling for top honours when welcoming the Eagles to Craven Cottage. The Whites have failed to win any of their last six here (W0-D3-L3) against Palace, a record that includes a 2-0 defeat in the Premier League this term.

Fulham 2.427/5 have been eliminated from the FA Cup in each of their last four quarter-final appearances and are looking to knock out Premier League opposition in successive rounds for the first time since 2003. The Cottagers are W6-D5-L4 in home EPL outings this season and surprisingly ranked as low as 12^th on home Expected Points (xP) rankings.

Crystal Palace 3.3512/5 have progressed from four of their last five FA Cup quarter-final ties but have been eliminated in eight of their past 10 ties against fellow top-flight opposition. Nevertheless, only Liverpool and Arsenal have performed better than the Eagles (W7-D1-L2) since Boxing Day with visitors also suffering just three away league losses this term.

Eagles appeal as underdogs

All four all-Premier League ties in the FA Cup fifth round this season ended all-square and the Draw 3.3512/5 has to be a consideration again at Craven Cottage when Fulham and Crystal Palace cross swords. However, I'm happy to have the Eagles onside here with Crystal Palace 0 & +0.5 Asian Handicap trading at an appealing 1.9110/11 for Saturday's early kick-off.

The selection means we'll make money should Palace avoid defeat in 90 minutes - we'll earn a full-stakes profit should the visitors come out on top, and earn a half-stakes pay-out should the game end all-square - only a Fulham success will see our stake lost.

Palace are W10-D6-L4 in EPL action since late October and have posted W9-D0-L2 across all competitions in their last 11 outings. Oliver Glasner's group are a remarkable W8-D3-L1 on their travels over the past five months with their only reverse in that same sample arriving at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup (2-3). The Eagles also won here as recently as last month.

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Back Crystal Palace 0 & +0.5 Asian Handicap @

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Back Crystal Palace 0 & +0.5 Asian Handicap @ 1.9110/11

Steve Tudor's Build Up Tips: Sarr to have more Shots on Target than Iwobi

There is little to separate the Cottagers and Eagles this Saturday as they collide in a FA Cup quarter final. Both are in decent shape with Palace boasting excellent away form. Fulham meanwhile lie four places above them in the league and are on course to securing their best ever Premier League finish.

Similarly, you can barely get a cigarette paper between their chief creative players. Take Alex Iwobi and Ismaila Sarr who have each fired seven goals this term. The Fulham winger edges it for assists (four to three) while Sarr has the greater shot accuracy – 24 on target from 43 attempts, compared to 22 on target from 53 for Iwobi.

It is this variance however that leads us to a very tempting Match Up bet using Betfair Build Ups, backing the Senegalese international to outfire the former Arsenal and Everton star at Craven Cottage.

Though there is nothing fundamentally wrong with Iwobi’s form in recent weeks his productivity in the final third has notably declined, failing to produce a shot on target in each of his last four outings.

It is perhaps pertinent that one of these games was at home to Palace last month, the Eagles leaving with the points.

The summation of his attacking intent in these contests is two shots (blocked) and one effort flying wayward. By comparison, Sarr has taken on four SOT in his last four appearances, scoring from three of them.

Admittedly, this was preceded by five games in which Sarr didn’t post a single SOT but what must be factored into the reckoning is that the winger is a streaky player. He tends to score in small batches, and the same goes for attempts too.

An example of this is a purple patch from the tail-end of November to late December where he posted 12 SOT in just seven outings. In-form and in the swing of things, the 27-year-old can be the difference-maker between two evenly matched sides this Saturday.

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Back Sarr to have more Shots on Target than Iwobi

SBK7/5

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