Doncaster vs Crystal Palace prediction: Mateta to make the difference for Eagles

Crystal Palace travel to Doncaster tonight looking to avoid a potential FA Cup shock against a side who have lost their last seven FA Cup ties against a top-flight opposition (7:45pm, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button).

The League Two side beat Hull City in the last round, going through 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at the MKM Stadium.

Up against Palace, the challenge will be a lot harder, but the pressure will be on the Premier League team to make sure they don’t join Liverpool and Southampton in being dumped out of the competition by an EFL side.

There will also be the added incentive that Grant McCann’s men will already know their potential fifth-round opponents, with the draw taking place before kick-off.

They go into the game third in the League Two table, well placed to return to League One for the first time since 2022 and with four wins from their last five games.

Doncaster face a Palace side in their best form of the season, with five wins from their last seven matches including away at Leicester, West Ham and Manchester United.

The Eagles have also won at Aston Villa and Brighton this season, so won’t be worried about making the trip up to South Yorkshire, especially to play in such an impressive venue as the Eco-Power Stadium.

It will be the second time the two sides have met in the FA Cup and the first time since they played in the fifth round since 2019.

While we love a good cup shock, it’s hard to see Doncaster having enough to beat the Premier League side, but that will obviously depend very much on the team Oliver Glasner puts out.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot will have thought the team he picked on Sunday would have had enough to beat the Championship’s bottom side but if attitudes aren’t right, then quality is not always enough - especially in the FA Cup.

With only the league and this competition on Palace’s radar, we would expect Glasner to name a strong side tonight because another win continues to breed confidence. They’ve not played since last Sunday and are at home to Everton on Saturday, so there is plenty of time to recover.

Football betting sites are all backing a win for the visitors with odds of 31/100, while you can get 10/1 on a home win and 21/4 on a draw after 90 minutes.

While Doncaster haven’t beaten a top-flight side in this competition since 1985, when they beat QPR, Palace have won their last 11 FA Cup games against sides from the fourth tier (or lower) since a 2-1 loss at Hartlepool in January 1978.

It is also just the second time that Rovers could reach the fifth round of the competition in 68 years. The last time was the 2018/19 season when they beat Oldham Athletic to set up a fifth-round meeting with tonight’s opponents.

This is the first time Palace have got past the third round since they reached the semi-finals in 2022, where they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea at Wembley.

Glasner’s side have kept four clean sheets in their last five games, and we expect a relatively easy night for Marc Guehi and co but Doncaster Rovers striker Billy Sharp will have other ideas.

The 39-year-old has only lost twice to Palace in nine matches, winning four and drawing three whilst scoring twice - and betting sites have him at 9/2 to score at any time.

Doncaster vs Crystal Palace prediction 1: Palace to win to nil - 6/5 William Hill

Jean-Philippe Mateta has to be the best £11m Palace have spent and he has more than repaid that transfer fee with 39 goals since making his move permanent in January 2022.

This season he has scored 18 goals for club and country - well France U23’s as an overage player in their Olympic squad, where he scored five goals before they were beaten 5-3 in the final by Spain.

In the league, he has scored six goals in his last five games, including braces in 2-0 wins against West Ham and Manchester United.

Betting apps are offering 7/2 on him scoring first or last and 23/20 on him scoring any time. He’s scored first three times in his last five games and last three times (and first and last twice) so anyone who has backed his lately will have been quids in.

You can also get 5/1 on him scoring two or more, something he has done five times this season and nine times since the start of last season.

Doncaster vs Crystal Palace prediction 2: Mateta scoring first - 7/2 Bet365

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