58 games down, two to go. The longest and hardest of seasons still brings the potential of a European trophy to accompany the Community Shield secured back in August.
Crystal Palace’s season will end at sixty matches, three short in the League Cup and five short of the maximum possible in the FA Cup. Some schedule.
It has been a long road with the club’s first serious excursion into Europe – apart from those old enough to remember Samsunspor and the Intertoto Cup – and many lessons have no doubt been learned along the way.
As has been seen with other clubs that have trodden the same path, the number of games has taken its toll. Not only physically. The mental challenge of it seeming like there is a game every three days is tough. Then there’s all the travel. It has been relentless.
Should Palace be fortunate and see their name etched on the Conference League trophy next week, the Europa League awaits – an even tougher campaign with a higher class of opponent.
Palace’s Premier League form, like previous European debutants that came before them, has suffered from the sheer volume of fixtures. It has really tailed off in the second part of the season after a promising start, though the victories in Europe have somewhat masked the drop on the domestic front.
In early December, following a late winner at Craven Cottage, the Eagles were fourth in the table, having taken 26 points from 15 games. Since then, they have garnered only 19 points from 22 matches, which is relegation form.
Just four victories in this time have been recorded. At home versus relegated Wolves and Newcastle, with three points gleaned on the road at Brighton and Tottenham.
It is understandable, given the aforementioned factors, but the drop in league position over the past three years and points total is a concern. Such is the strength of the English top-flight, it presents a far greater test than two of three European competitions and this must be the yardstick.
Since promotion, the club have finished between 10th and 15th in every season. They sit 15th currently before the visit of the newly crowned champions in the 38th and final Premier League match on Sunday. If results go the right way, Palace could rise a place. However, they could potentially drop a place and therefore record their lowest placing since promotion 13 seasons ago.
As a result of those 13 seasons, the club is now the 25th richest in world football and the downward trend in domestic finishes must be arrested.
The feeling of winning trophies has been fantastic for all connected and Palace are favourites to add another next week, as they have been right from the very start of the Conference League. Albeit their place in the best league in the world and the financial gain underpins everything the club does and aspires to do.
Old habits die hard
Last week on the road had a distinctly familiar feeling in terms of the pattern of the season, with tough tests against Manchester City and Brentford.
In both games, as seen many times over the past ten months, Oliver Glasner’s men carved out many decent opportunities without putting their opponents to the sword. The conversion rate versus their expected goals (xG) this season is a staggering -21.45 goals. For context, the Premier League average is -5.63.
In each of the games at the Etihad and the Gtech, the consistent lack of ruthlessness did for them again, as their opponents scored with their first efforts on target. City scored from three of four attempts on target, Brentford scored two from three after 90 minutes.
The Eagles’ Austrian boss admitted afterwards on Sunday that his team came in at half-time level, when they should have been three goals in front, following a decent 45 minutes.
They twice hit the net via an Ismaila Sarr penalty, and Adam Wharton shot from range, which Caoimhin Kelleher would have been disappointed with. Wharton became the first midfielder playing in one of the ‘six’ roles to score in the Premier League since Glasner took over in February 2024.
By the end, Palace were hanging on for a point with their hosts recording a higher xG on the day – another pattern of fading in the second period performances, having not given themselves daylight.
A less familiar situation has been the waning of the defensive consistency that had been the foundation over recent weeks, with 11 goals against in the past four away from Selhurst Park – though it must be said in mitigation that there has been a huge amount of rotation as minutes are managed before the UCL Final.
A big summer awaits. A new manager, a squad overhaul. Hopefully, with a Europa League to prepare for. This season’s experiences should help somewhat.
