Crystal Palace kick off their Europa League campaign against Lech Poznan in the league phase.
Palace qualified for this season’s UEFA Europa League by winning the Conference League title at the end of last season.
Lech Poznan meanwhile beat Ki and Thun in two qualifying rounds to reach this stage after they dropped down from the Champions League – having lost at the second Qualifying Round Stage in that competition.
Team News
Palace have no fresh injury concerns to report following their 3-2 Premier League loss against Ipswich.
Ismaila Sarr (groin) and Eddie Nketiah (unspecified) face late fitness checks but Jean-Philippe Mateta (hamstring), Dean Henderson (ankle) and Chadi Riad (knee) are still absent.
Poznan have no fresh injury concerns after their 2-1 domestic loss to Gornik Zabrze.
Daniel Hakans (muscle), Alex Douglas (ankle), Antoni Kozubal (thigh) and Ali Gholizadeh (ACL) are ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Palace host Lech Poznan at Selhurst Park on Thursday 17 September at 8pm BST, live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Crystal Palace’s first-ever competitive meeting against Lech Poznan in any UEFA competition.
- Lech Poznan are making their first competitive away visit to Palace in all UEFA competitions.
- This is Palace’s first competitive encounter against any Polish opposition in any UEFA competition.
- Lech Poznan have lost both of their two previous away visits to English opposition in all UEFA competitions (L2).
Prediction
Having endured an inconsistent start to their domestic campaign and thrown away valuable points against Ipswich through sloppy defensive marking of crosses into their box, Palace really need to cut out those errors if they’re to go far in the Europa League this season.
Lech Poznan meanwhile have just one clean sheet in their last five matches so aren’t exactly better defensively but they do certainly have a strong goalscoring form, which is something that should worry Palace if they don’t sort out their own defence.
I however do think that the Palace faithful will give the hosts a confidence boost and especially if Sarr comes off the bench, but this might not be as easy as some might think.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-1 Lech Poznan