Saturday 26 December 2015 15:08, UK
Bournemouth will be looking for a fourth Premier League win in a row when they host Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
The newly-promoted Cherries have pulled clear of the relegation zone with victories over Chelsea, Manchester United and West Brom.
They are now four points above 18th-placed Swansea, although manager Eddie Howe said they are not getting carried away by their recent form.
Crystal Palace could move into the top four with victory at the Vitality Stadium after three wins in their last four matches.
The Eagles start the weekend sixth in the table, level on points with the two sides above them and only three points behind Manchester City in third.
Team news
Joshua King will be unavailable for Bournemouth after he pulled out of the visit to West Brom last week during the warm-up.
The 23-year-old was expected to start but suffered a hamstring injury before the game and Glenn Murray, who replaced him last weekend, is expected to be in the starting XI again.
Midfielder Junior Stanislas (hamstring) is still out after being substituted against the Baggies but Lee Tomlin (groin/ pelvis) could make his return
Mile Jedinak will travel for Palace after recovering from an ankle injury, but Bakary Sakho and Dwight Gayle (both hamstring) are out.
Alan Pardew rated Yohan Cabaye's chances of featuring as "50-50" as the midfielder fights a foot problem.
Opta stats
Crystal Palace and Bournemouth have not met in a competitive fixture since March 1989.
Bournemouth have only lost one of their last eight Boxing Day matches (W5 D2 L1) in a run that saw two matches in the fourth tier, four in the third and two in the Championship.
Crystal Palace have won 35 away points in 2015 so far (W11 D2 L4) - only Arsenal (38) have won more on the road this calendar year in the Premier League.
Bournemouth have won three successive league games and will be looking to win four in a row for the first time since December 2014 (five wins in a row).
Crystal Palace have scored a league-high 11 goals from set-piece situations in the Premier League so far in 2015-16.
Bournemouth have conceded a league-high 12 goals from set-piece situations so far in 2015-16.
Merson's prediction
Bournemouth are doing great. They might feel like they had to win those games over Chelsea and United with the matches they've got coming up. Anything over Christmas for them will be an absolute bonus now.
Palace are good, and there will be bundles of goals in this one. Both teams can score, Bournemouth love to attack at home, and Palace have been great on their travels.
It should be end-to-end stuff, but the away side have just that little bit more in the final third, so I'm going with a Palace win in a five-goal thriller.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-3 (33/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Bournemouth are Sky Bet's 7/5 favourites for the victory on Boxing Day, with Crystal Palace 19/10 while the draw is priced at 12/5.
The goalscorer market is wide open as neither side possess a player boasting more than five goals this season, with Glenn Murray and Joshua King the 6/1 joint favourites followed by Connor Wickham at 13/2.
