Crystal Palace has just announced a new shirt sponsorship deal with the Gibraltar based online gaming giant the Mansion Group who since being formed in 2004 has gone on to establish itself as one of the leaders in the world of online gaming.
While operating under the slogan, ‘Where the World Plays’, Mansion owns a wide spectrum of online casinos including their flagship brand Casino.com.
Speaking about Crystal Palace’s partnership with Mansion club chairman Steve Parish said: “At Crystal Palace FC we are pleased to be working alongside such an entertainment heavyweight as Mansion. I very much look forward to partnering with them to grow both our distinct brands.
“We have an exciting season ahead of us, as we seek to truly establish ourselves in the Barclays Premier League, and I’m excited that Mansion will be joining us as we continue to create a new reality and future for our Club.”
Meanwhile back to the business on the pitch east London meets south London on Saturday afternoon when Croatian ace Slaven Bilic’s side travel to Selhurst Park hoping to knock Alan Pardew’s high-flying Eagles off of their lofty perch.
West Ham goes into the match on the back of a five-game unbeaten run that has witnessed an oddity in the Premiership with the Hammers away-form far outstripping anything they have produced at Upton Park, where they have amassed just four-points in front of their home crowd, but managed a whopping ten-points while on the road. This is a figure that should give Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew some well-warranted concern, despite his own clubs record so far this season.
The former Newcastle boss will have some hope though as West Ham’s last two matches have been far from impressive with a last minute goal in the 2-2 draw with Norwich at home, and then a second half comeback to share the points at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland in yet another 2-2 draw.
Crystal Palace meanwhile has been motoring along nicely two-points above West Ham in the Premiership after eight wins and three losses which came against very respectable opposition in the form of Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.
The Eagles last match before the international break was a 2-0 home win over West Brom to take the south Londoners to fourth in the Premiership, just three-points behind league leaders Manchester City, which has manager Pardew comparing his current team to the Newcastle side he managed in the 2011/2012 season that finished fifth.
Prediction
Given the fact that some of the so called lesser teams in the Premiership have a habit of starting the season well before dropping off, as is the case we feel with West Ham after having watched them struggle in their last two matches we feel that Crystal Palace should manage a home win with the winning goal coming in the second-half. With this in mind we are going to back the halftime draw and then Palace for the win which should be around an even money bet with all of the top bookmakers.
