Selhurst Park tips: Palace & Ipswich both hunting first points after tough starts

Sunday midnight AEST at Selhurst Park shapes as a relegation-flavour scrap far too early in the season, but that's where we are. Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town have both stumbled out of the blocks — Palace winless after two rounds (0-0-2, sitting 18th), Ipswich with a win and a loss (1-0-1, 12th). The head-to-head market has Palace at $1.85, the draw at $3.60, and Ipswich at $3.90, reflecting the home advantage and the sense that Palace's opposition has been tougher. Neither side has much momentum, but one will leave south London with three points and a story to tell.

Who takes the points?

Crystal Palace are coming off a 1–4 home defeat to Manchester City on 29 August — their second straight loss after a 0–2 trip to Everton on opening weekend. They've conceded six goals and scored just one across those two matches, a sobering start for a side that needs to bank home wins against mid-table visitors. The defeat to City was predictable on paper; the City scoreline flatters the gulf, but Palace at least found the net. Before that, the Everton loss was goalless from Palace's perspective — no reward for the trip. At Selhurst Park this season, Palace have played once (that City defeat), so the home fortress hasn't been tested against beatable opposition yet.

Ipswich Town's tale is a win-loss split: opened with a 2–1 home victory over Sunderland on 23 August, then shipped five in a 2–5 loss at Manchester United on 31 August. That United result is their most recent outing, so they arrive in London having also conceded heavily last start. The difference is Ipswich have shown they can score — four goals in two games compared to Palace's one. At home, Ipswich have that 2–1 win; on the road, they've played once (the United defeat). Goal difference sits at -2 for Ipswich, -5 for Palace.

These two haven't met in recent memory according to the pack, so we're writing the first chapter here. Palace have home advantage and are narrow favourites, but the form is almost identical — both lost their last start, both shipped goals in bunches. The market says Palace, and you'd back Selhurst Park to lift them, but Ipswich have at least shown a pulse in attack. For our epl predictions, we're leaning Palace on the weight of the venue and the fact that Ipswich's away record is one heavy defeat. It's an opinion built on thin evidence — two-round samples are always sketchy — but someone has to win, and Palace at home at $1.85 feels the safer side of the coin.

Line yarn: Palace to cover the -2 spread?

The line market has Crystal Palace laying 2 goals at $7.50, with Ipswich getting the +2 start at $1.32. That's a big spread for a match between two sides who've both conceded four or five in their last outings and haven't exactly been piling on the goals themselves. Palace's lone home match was a 1–4 loss — a three-goal margin against Manchester City, but that doesn't help the case for a comfortable Palace win here. Ipswich lost 2–5 away at United, a three-goal margin the other way.

If we're generous and assume Palace's 1–4 and 0–2 defeats were against stronger opposition (City and Everton), the underlying form might be better than the raw results. Ipswich's 2–1 home win over Sunderland shows they can be breached, but their 2–5 at United shows they can also leak goals on the road. The question is whether Palace have the firepower to win by three clear goals. On the evidence — one goal scored in two matches — that feels like a stretch. The -2 line is asking Palace to rediscover attacking form while keeping Ipswich to one goal or fewer. It's a narrative we can tell, but the data doesn't shout it.

Same Game Multi angles

The popular Same Game Multi board offers a few storylines if you're chasing a bigger return. Crystal Palace to win & Edward Nketiah to score anytime at $3.00 is the simplest — it's the home-win case with a named scorer. Edward Nketiah to score anytime & draw at $8.50 flips it to the stalemate, backing Nketiah to find the net in a share of the spoils. For the ambitious, Yeremi Pino to score anytime, draw & Over 3.5 goals at $23.00 paints a high-scoring scrap that finishes level — that's a lot to ask given Palace have managed one goal in two games. Edward Nketiah to score anytime, Crystal Palace to win & BTTS at $4.75 layers in both teams on the scoresheet, which feels plausible given Ipswich have scored in both their matches. We're not tipping multi combos here, but if you're building one, the Nketiah + Palace win + BTTS route at least has form behind both sides finding the net.

The punt

We're siding with Crystal Palace on the head-to-head at $1.85, framed as the home team due a result after two tough opening fixtures. It's not a strong conviction — both sides lost their last start, both have conceded heavily, and neither has a body of home or away form to lean on yet. But Selhurst Park gives Palace the edge, and Ipswich's away record is one five-goal defeat. That's enough to tip the scales in Palace's favour, but only just. On the line, we're leaving the -2 spread alone — Palace haven't shown the attacking shape to win by three, and Ipswich have shown enough in attack to keep it closer than that. If you forced us, we'd take Ipswich +2 at $1.32 as the safer line play, but we're not confident enough to tip it. This feels like a low-scoring grind, and the side that scores first probably holds on for a narrow win.