Crystal Palace v Bournemouth preview: Emmanuel Adebayor set for debut

Alan Pardew is set to hand Emmanuel Adebayor his debut when Crystal Palace face Bournemouth at Selhurst Park on Tuesday.

The former Arsenal forward, who signed on a free transfer following his release by Tottenham, missed Palace's 1-0 victory over Stoke in the FA Cup fourth round due to a lack of match fitness.

Bournemouth avoided an FA Cup upset against south coast neighbours Portsmouth at the weekend, overturning a one-goal deficit to secure their place in the fifth round.

Eddie Howe's side have been active in the January window as they look to secure their Premier League status, and the Cherries are on a good run with just one defeat from their last six games in all competitions.

Team news

While Pardew says Adebayor has a good chance of featuring, Joe Ledley is likely to miss out after picking up a knock last time out.

Yohan Cabaye was seen leaving Selhurst Park on crutches after Saturday's victory and faces a pre-match fitness test but Pardew revealed at his press conference his ankle injury is not as bad as first feared.

Bournemouth boss Howe can welcome back skipper Tommy Elphick following a long injury absence.

The centre-back played 76 minutes of the Cherries' 2-1 victory at Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Saturday, having not featured since early September as he recovered from an ankle operation, and he emerged from his comeback outing unscathed.

Junior Stanislas (medial ligament) is a major doubt for the Cherries, while Max Gradel, Tyrone Mings and Callum Wilson (all knee) are all long-term absentees.

Paul Merson's prediction

Palace had an excellent result at the weekend and I can see them going all the way in the FA Cup. If they have a bit of luck they can have a real good crack.

I think they can beat Bournemouth here too. Eddie Howe's side played well the other week at Sunderland and should have won the game but they didn't and that's a real worry for me.

Palace will be a lot more ruthless and I can see the home side winning 3-2. Adebayor has come in but he hasn't had much football and I would be surprised to see him heavily involved so I'm going for Wilfried Zaha to score the first goal.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-2 (Sky Bet, 40/1)

Opta stats

Crystal Palace have picked up just one point in their last three league meetings with Bournemouth (W0 D1 L2).

This will be Bournemouth's first visit to play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park since March 1989 when they went home with a 3-2 win.

Emmanuel Adebayor has scored on his Premier League debut for all three of his previous clubs in the competition - Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Adebayor has scored against 30 of the 35 different opponents that he's faced in the Premier League and this will be the first time he's played against Bournemouth in the competition.

Bournemouth have conceded a league-high 15 goals from set piece situations this season.

The Cherries have seen an opponent sent off on five occasions this season in the Premier League; more often than any other team.

Bournemouth have lost just one of their last six Premier League away games (W2 D3 L1).

Betting

Palace are Sky Bet's 7/5 favourites for the victory with Bournemouth priced at 2/1 while the draw is considered a 9/4 chance. The Cherries head to Selhurst Park as 13/2 sixth favourites for relegation, odds which they will be desperate to lengthen with their fellow strugglers also busy in the transfer market. However, it is the Eagles' January signing Emmanuel Adebayor who heads the first goalscorer betting at 5/1, while Benik Afobe, who also arrived in the winter window, is rated the visitors' main threat. It is the latter who the Soccer Saturday pundits and Jamie Redknapp are all backing to score first in their Sky Bet tips