Aston Villa v Crystal Palace: key stats and talking pointspublished at 12:06 30 August
12:06 30 August
Noel Sliney BBC Sport senior journalist
Winless, goalless and guileless, Aston Villa now face their nemesis. Under Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their five meetings against Villa, winning four and scoring 16 times.
The Eagles are the last visiting team to win at Villa Park in any competition, doing so in the League Cup last October, and twice led their hosts in the league three weeks later before being held to a draw. A 4-1 home victory for the Eagles in the reverse fixture was followed by a 3-0 Wembley rout of their passive opponents in the FA Cup semi-final.
Eberechi Eze, who opened the scoring that day, has departed but it's Palace pair Ismaila Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta who have haunted Aston Villa over the years. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, they have both been directly involved in nine goals against Villa in all competitions – no Premier League player has a better record during that period.
Villa manager Unai Emery has tried various tactical tweaks, including switching to a back three, in a failed attempt to address Villa's struggles against Palace. In the past five games between the sides, Palace have only averaged 38% possession but hurt Villa repeatedly on the break.
Among teams Palace have faced at least three times under Glasner, they have attacked Villa the quickest on average and scored the most goals per game.
It is well documented that financial restrictions have hindered Villa's attempts to strengthen the squad this summer. Nonetheless, the players they have are capable of performing far better – nine of the starting XI in each of their opening two matches were part of the side which thrillingly defeated Paris Saint-Germain in April's Champions League quarter-final second leg at Villa Park.
A lack of pace, width and intensity so far has strengthened calls for £26m new recruit Evann Guessand and January signing Donyell Malen to start as Villa seek to avoid going four top-flight matches without scoring for the first time since April 2016.
They could benefit most, though, from Youri Tielemans dropping back into central midfield because of injuries to Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana. Tielemans, the club's player of the 2024-25 season, has started the current campaign in the No.10 role but his press-resistance and range of passing from a deeper position has been sorely missed.
'An exciting young talent' - Pino joins Palacepublished at 16:33 29 August
16:33 29 August
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New Crystal Palace winger hopes he "can help the team" after his arrival from Villarreal in a deal worth up to £26m.
The 22-year-old has signed a five-year contract, and will be available for Sunday's Premier League fixture at Aston Villa.
Pino made 133 appearances for Villarreal after his debut in 2020, and he scored four goals in 34 league games last season to help the La Liga side finish fifth and qualify for the Champions League.
His arrival follows forward Eberechi Eze's £60m move to Arsenal last week.
"I'm very happy to be here," Pino told club media.
"It is a dream of mine to come to the Premier League, to a historic club like Crystal Palace, and I hope that I can help the team."
The Spain international becomes just the Eagles' third summer signing, after goalkeeper Walter Benitez's arrival from PSV Eindhoven on a free transfer and defender Borna's Sosa's £3m move from Ajax.
Chairman Steve Parish added: "It's fantastic news that Yeremy - an exciting young talent with already such an impressive record in domestic, European and international football – has chosen us as the next step in his career.
"With an exciting season ahead for the club, competing on multiple fronts, he is a player whose talents Palace fans will particularly appreciate."
Glasner on Hughes, Guehi and the transfer windowpublished at 14:55 29 August
14:55 29 August
Melissa Edwards BBC Sport journalist
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Aston Villa at Villa Park (kick-off 19:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
The squad that travelled to Fredrikstad on Thursday have recovered well and will all be available again but a "question mark" remains over Will Hughes.
Defender Marc Guehi "has to be" a Palace player by the end of the transfer window because it is "not possible" to find a suitable replacement ready for the Premier League says the Eagles boss.
Offering more on Guehi, Glasner said: "Our foundation of the success we had is our defence. We had two clean sheets against Fredrikstad. We have conceded one goal in the Premier League. This is our foundation and Marc is a crucial part. Getting the right replacement in, I think it is almost impossible."
Asked if Guehi is content, his manager added: "I think he is focused. Again, if Marc said 'I want to leave Crystal Palace', it would have happened weeks ago. So Marc is fully committed to the team."
Glasner spoke about Palace's slow transfer window, stating: "It's our fault. Usually when you're busy at the end [of the summer], you missed something at the beginning".
On his sides' current state, he added: "First of all, we're feeling great, because we achieved our second goal this season after winning the Community Shield, going into the group stage of the Conference League. We did it, so we feel great, maybe a little bit tired. I went to bed a bit after three in the morning, but again if you go to bed with success, it's easier to get up!"
Crystal Palace learn Conference League opponentspublished at 12:51 29 August
12:51 29 August
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Crystal Palace's Conference League draw is complete and Oliver Glasner's side now know which six clubs they will meet in the 36-team league format, which was used for the first time last season.
The Conference League fixture list will be released no later than Sunday, 31 August.
Watch and follow Europa League and Conference League draw livepublished at 11:53 29 August
11:53 29 August
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There are two Premier League teams in this season's Europa League and one in the Conference League.
Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are about to find out the eight teams they will face in the league phase of the 2025-26 Europa League, while Crystal Palace will learn their six opponents for the league phase of the Conference League.
'Very flat' but 'job done' - fans on European progresspublished at 07:55 29 August
07:55 29 August
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We asked for your views on Crystal Palace's performance away to Fredrikstad, which ended in a stalemate.
Here are some of your comments:
Dave: We know it was an underwhelming performance, and we know we're in need of reinforcements in attack (and probably defence with Guehi likely to leave), but I find Oliver Glasner so reassuring. Whenever he speaks, he is honest and open; he doesn't sugar coat anything, but he also speaks with positivity. He feels like an incredibly safe pair of hands.
Mike: Job done! A great achievement. Now it's time to get the chequebook out, Mr Parish. The squad lacks depth to cope with the extra fixtures.
Karim: Difficult game in difficult conditions, which we managed to navigate, but the lack of squad depth, especially in the front three, really became apparent today. Pino is a good start, but we need at least two attacking players signed before the window closes, and cover for the defence, both centrally and on the right side.
However, there were some messages that focused more on the flat performance than the squad depth.
Adrian: Palace were very flat. Everyone was off their game - specifically, Sosa and Kamada were a waste of space. And Fredrikstad were one of the dirtiest teams I've seen in recent times. An utterly forgettable match.
Nobby: Genuinely appalling performance. I thought Sosa was the only one who played with any semblance of quality. The more pressing issue was the lack of substitutions for me, as I worry about Sunday in terms of fitness. Mateta had an appalling miss. I don't understand how Romain Esse wasn't given minutes, especially based on his cameo against Nottingham Forest, where he thoroughly impressed.
Bryn: A boring game, against a side that came with a boring, frustrating game plan. It was effective to a point, but I thought Fredrikstad would set it up with more urgency. Looking forward to playing more adventurous teams further down the line.
Gossip: Palace brace for Guehi bidpublished at 07:27 29 August
07:27 29 August
Crystal Palace are bracing themselves to lose captain Marc Guehi, 25, to Liverpool before Monday's deadline and want £45m for the England defender. (Express), external
Analysis: Eagles hold out but lack attacking sparkpublished at 19:40 28 August
19:40 28 August
Adam Millington BBC Sport journalist
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Crystal Palace came into the return tie with an aggregate lead which was anything but comfortable following a tight 1-0 win at Selhurst Park last week.
They dominated possession in that game and spent the match camped in Fredrikstad's third as the Norwegians struggled to produce any build-up play, despite a spirited display.
At home, though, it was a somewhat different story as the Palace backline - including Marc Guehi despite continued transfer speculation - were put under pressure.
Emil Holten's physicality made the Fredrikstad forward a handful, while they managed to string together good attacking moves in the final third.
They also looked to trouble Palace through set-pieces, making the most of Daniel Eid's long throws, but the visitors had them covered.
And for all their increased positivity, Fredrikstad still lacked any real bite up top to test Henderson, allowing Palace to edge through courtesy of Mateta's first-leg winner.
Having also scored just once in their two Premier League games and lost Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, Glasner's side also showed a lack of potency up front.
Defender Chris Richards flicked a header wide and Mateta was denied just before the end after having an earlier header saved, but Palace lacked the fluidity to create more chances.
While Oliver Glasner has led his side to the league phase, this testing and hard-fought play-off will show how tough the competition could be for the Eagles and how more attacking options are needed in the squad.
'Going into the group stage was our second goal'published at 19:27 28 August
19:27 28 August
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Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner, speaking to Channel 5: "Huge achievement - going into the group stage it was our second goal. The first one was winning the Community Shield.
"Against an opposition which is not easy to play. We had to accept it and the players did well and defended the box excellently. We know we have to and can play better in possession.
"The story of the game is we lost too many balls too easily.
"Of course, we have to improve how we play and how quickly we play.
"We have to go on a plane to come back to London.
"We achieved our second goal this season [reaching the group stages]."
On transfers: "I told everyone at the club I didn't want to talk about transfers today.
"Our job is to be successful going into the group stage. I can not be deflecting to this transfer noise."
'Everybody is super excited'published at 19:18 28 August
19:18 28 August
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Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards, speaking to Channel 5 after the Eagles booked their spot in the league phase of the Conference League: "We have been defending really well so we were hoping we could continue doing that.
"Every game is not going to be pretty, but as long as you get the result, that's the big thing.
"Everybody is super excited. We are an ambitious club. Now it is time to win some games in Europe. We are ready to make history.
"A hostile environment but Fredrikstad are a really good team. It wasn't pretty but we got the result we needed."
Crystal Palace are closing in on the £26m signing of Villarreal winger Yeremy Pino following Eberechi Eze's departure to Arsenal.
The 15-cap Spain international has a reported release clause of £69m but with only two years left on his Villarreal contract Pino could move to Selhurst Park as something of a bargain – but he does not represent a direct replacement for Palace's former talisman.
Like Eze, Pino is a winger, although he plays on the right, rather than the left. Pino's natural game means he hugs the touchline rather than drifts into central areas as Eze did to such great effect for the Eagles.
The skillsets of the two attackers also differ. Pino is less of a direct goal threat than Eze and dribbles on far fewer occasions, but he is effective at getting into crossing positions, provides a similar number of assists and is a more tenacious tackler – a facet of Pino's game that may prove useful for Oliver Glasner's preference to defend deep, win back possession and counter quickly.
Despite not being a direct Eze replacement, there's no doubt that Pino could prove to be an astute signing. Since breaking into the Villarreal side in 2021-22, only three players aged under 23 have made more starts in the big five European leagues - despite an ACL injury ruling Pino out of most of the 2023-24 campaign - meaning he is hugely experienced for a player in his age bracket.
Image source, Getty Images
