Crystal Palace

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The biggest challenge for Crystal Palace is to keep this fantastic team together.

Manager Oliver Glasner picked the same starting XI in the FA Cup final win against Manchester City in May and again in last weekend's Community Shield victory over Liverpool.

There was one change against Chelsea as midfielder Daichi Kamada was replaced by Will Hughes, with the Japanese having picked up an injury in the Wembley shootout win over the Reds.

Glasner clearly knows his best team, but has complained in recent news conferences about a lack of depth - and lack of new players coming in.

For now, Palace remain a strong side, as they showed in this impressive display, but they are likely to get weaker before they can reinforce their ranks.

Spurs are in talks to sign star attacker Eberechi Eze and Liverpool have held discussions over Marc Guehi, who is in the final year of his contract.

There was also a £35m bid from Atalanta for striker Mateta earlier in the summer while there are reports Manchester United are interested in signing Adam Wharton next year.

This Palace team, which won the club's first major trophy and secured European qualification for the first time in history last season, is potentially about to be picked apart by richer rivals.

That fact was not lost on the away support at Stamford Bridge, who were heard chanting against former owner John Textor and Nottingham Forest's Evangelos Marinakis, having been demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League because of multi-club ownership rules.

Having been on the wrong side of the European courts in that case, it is no wonder the away end were chanting "it's not football any more" after they were denied a moment of celebration by VAR when Eze's strike was chalked off.

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Crystal Palace drew 0-0 away to Chelsea in their opening Premier League fixture on Sunday and manager Oliver Glasner believes Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze are 'aligned with Palace' amid rising transfer speculation.

"Ebs and Marc, there has been a lot of noise about these two players in the last week. Everyone could see the performances against Liverpool and today they were 100 per cent aligned with this team and Crystal Palace," Glasner told BBC Match of the Day.

"As long as they are 100 per cent committed, they will play as they are so good. I watched them all week in training, I spoke to them almost daily, maybe more than my kids and wife, but it's been worth it to talk to them.

"They didn't just show they are great footballers, but they are great people and that's what I expected."

He added, speaking to Sky Sports: "The 15, 16 players who had the most minutes last year are still here. There are a lot of rumours about Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi but they were 100 per cent with this group in Crystal Palace and they have proved that in a big way.

On the future of Eze, Glasner said: "Eb should have scored a goal today, he had one and it was disallowed. He will come tomorrow to the Crystal Palace training ground, Tuesday off, we take Wednesday and I expect him to be back playing for us against Fredrikstad."

Image source, Getty Images

• Since the start of last season, no Premier League team has drawn more matches than Crystal Palace (15), with the Eagles now drawing five of their last seven games (W2).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Chelsea's performance

What did you make of Crystal Palace's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Chelsea give a debut to winger Jamie Gittens but are without defender Tosin Adarabioyo for precautionary reasons after he pulled up in training.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, James, Acheampong, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Palmer, Gittens, Joao Pedro

Subs: Jorgensen, Fofana, Gusto, Hato, Essugo, Andrey Santos, Delap, Estevao, George

Crystal Palace start Eberechi Eze amid widespread reports of the forward nearing a move to Tottenham.

Star defender Marc Guehi also starts amid interest from Liverpool.

Crystal Palace XI: Henderson, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell, Wharton, Hughes, Sarr, Eze, Mateta

Subs: Benitez, Clyne, Cardines, Sosa, Lerma, Devenny, Esse, Rak-Sakyi, Edouard

Three matches make up Sunday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Chelsea v Crystal Palace - BBC Radio 5 Live

• Nottingham Forest v Brentford - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Manchester United v Arsenal (16:30) - BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction from the 14:00 games here

And get Man Utd v Arsenal here

There is real excitement about Chelsea at the moment.

They have just won the Club World Cup but the Premier League is the one they want and I bet one or two of their fans are thinking they have got half a chance this season.

This game might be a reminder of how hard that is going to be, because Crystal Palace are such a well-balanced and dangerous side under Oliver Glasner.

I still think Chelsea will win though. They have a few options up front now and some versatile attackers too, so they can try to break Palace down in different ways.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

Chelsea and Crystal Palace have both won two trophies each since the end of the last domestic season and will hope to carry that momentum into the first London derby of the new Premier League campaign.

Palace claimed the first major honour in their history by winning the FA Cup final and also beat Liverpool on penalties last weekend to lift the Community Shield.

Chelsea, meanwhile, claimed silverware in the Conference League and the newly expanded Club World Cup.

But their summers have otherwise followed very different paths.

Chelsea's relentless turnover of players has continued apace, with over £230m spent on incomings and more than £190m recouped in sales.

New signings, such as Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Jorrel Hato and Estevao Willian, could make their league debuts for the Blues on Sunday, as could the in-form Joao Pedro. The Brazilian scored three goals in two starts at the Club World Cup and also netted in pre-season wins over Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.

Palace, meanwhile, have spent just £2m - the second lowest figure in the top flight prior to the weekend - adding some squad depth with the recruitment of full-back Borna Sosa and goalkeeper Walter Benitez.

Despite unprecedented success on the field, it has been a testing period for chairman Steve Parish. On Monday, Palace lost their appeal against demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport backing Uefa's decision that they were in breach of multi-club ownership rules.

The club are also braced for bids for Marc Guehi, who has entered the final year of his contract, and Eberechi Eze, who has been linked with Arsenal and Tottenham.

Losing Eze would be a real blow, particularly this late in the transfer window.

He has improved his total number of goals and assists in each of the past three seasons and either scored or created 26 goals in all competitions last term, the highest figure of his career.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sport's TV and radio commentators have picked two Crystal Palace players who will be worth watching out for in the next few months.

Romain Esse

Age: 20 Position: Midfield Country: England

Mark Scott: There was a buzz when Palace made Romain Esse their latest youthful acquisition from the Championship in January. That excitement grew after he bagged his first Premier League goal 25 seconds into his debut, but game time proved limited after that.

It is tough to dislodge Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr in attack, but Esse showed while he was at Millwall how good he can be at both taking on opponents and crossing, as well as cutting in and getting a shot away.

Should Palace get through their Conference League play-off, the extra games in Europe will afford him more opportunities to display those attributes.

Justin Devenny

Age: 21 Position: Midfield Country: Northern Ireland

Jonathan Pearce: Jason Devenny caught my eye the minute I saw him in Palace's 2-2 draw at Aston Villa last November. It was only his second game. He scored, but more than that he wanted the ball. He was hungry to make an impact.

He certainly did that with the winning Community Shield shootout penalty against Liverpool last Sunday. He'll never forget that and I've a feeling he'll have a big season.

Read the full piece here

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Glasner confirmed that Daichi Kamada will be out for match on Sunday and it will be "quite tight" but he could be available for Thursday's Conference League qualifier against Fredrikstad.

• On team news, he added: "No player is returning from injury. Not Eddie Nketiah, not Matheus Franca because they can't train with the team at the momen. Not Caleb Kporha. Of course, Cheick Doucoure and Chadi Riad are out for the next couple of months. The group of players we have available is not the biggest one [in terms of numbers], but we showed at Wembley that the next one comes in and the team is able to win games."

• On the futures of Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze: "Marc trains the entire week with us, every single session - the same with Eze if that was your next question - so they prepare in the best way for the Chelsea game on Sunday."

• Glasner said everybody connected to the club was "disappointed" with the outcome of their Cas appeal, but that "by Monday evening the disappointment was gone" as it "will still be first time Crystal Palace play European football and that is big goal of us to qualify for group stage".

• On the details of the ruling around John Textor's ownership: "I don't care about it. I can't influence. Just have to accept it. It is the past. We can't change it any more. Cas' verdict is final verdict so we have to move on from it. If you are always mourning about things it just doesn't help."

• The Palace boss said he does not "want to talk about what we want to achieve in May" but that "we want to progress. We want to play better. We want to improve. Every single player, we want to improve as a team. We want to grow as a club, as Crystal Palace."

• On change at the club since FA Cup and Community Shield wins: "This is the biggest achievement for me - to create this belief in the team, in the players, that we're able to win games. It doesn't mean that we do it every single weekend. But just that you have this trust and this confidence in the team, in the players, in the squad, in the club."

• On facing Chelsea: "I would say it's one of the best you can have. Our opener was Liverpool. Facing the champions. We want to compete with the best. We want to see if we are competitive or not. Then you get the answer. In the Community Shield, we got the answer - yes, we are. Now, one week later, we are facing the club world champions."

Catch up on all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary of Chelsea v Crystal Palace at 14:00 on Sunday

We have looked into the age profile of Crystal Palace's players for the 2025-26 season and recorded what percentage of minutes each of them played last campaign.

For the purpose of this exercise, we have deemed those under 24 as youth, between 24 and 30 as in their peak years and anyone over 30 to be a veteran.

The green represents new signings, who naturally did not play, red are those that have since left the club and yellow are all those that remain.

With 15 of their current squad sitting in the peak category last season, plus the addition of Borna Sosa for the upcoming campaign, this arguably ought to be a golden period of success for Palace.

Perhaps it should not be a surprise then that they won their first piece of major silverware in May when they beat Manchester City to secure the FA Cup, and have quickly followed that up with Community Shield success against Liverpool last Sunday.

The current crop under Oliver Glasner's tutelage are proving their worth, but the key question now is whether they can keep hold of them?

Umir Irfan
Football tactics correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Although he has primarily been deployed as a left centre-back in a back three for Crystal Palace by head coach Oliver Glasner, Marc Guei often finds himself in the middle of the defence, particularly on the ball.

Glasner has cleverly set up his centre-backs in a way that allows them to get on the ball facing forwards under less pressure, which has given Guehi the time and space to showcase his on-ball quality.

Over the past few years, Guehi has developed over as a strong last-ditch defender, playing for a side that does not dominate the ball.

His box-defending and assured nature makes him a perfect player to help a side defend a lead.

Playfully referred to as 'Uncle Marc' by his England team-mate, Guehi is a respected leader and Palace captain.

His tactical fit makes it no wonder Liverpool are keen to sign him - and at a price that may be considered a genuine bargain in a bloated market.

Read full article here

Image source, Getty Images

Former Crystal Palace striker Glen Murray understands why Marc Guehi is such an attractive prospect to external clubs and that the defender has a tough decision to make.

The England international has one year remaining on his contract and is a target for reigning Premier League champions Liverpool, but it is not clear whether he will leave Selhurst Park before the transfer window closes.

"I think he is absolutely exceptional in everything he does, whether in possession or out," said Murray on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "He is a real leader.

"He is calm and he takes that on to the pitch. Everything about him is extremely impressive and I am sure there are a lot of clubs that would love his signature.

"But it is Crystal Palace's first European adventure and I am sure he wants to be part of that. You can see that he is a real integral part of the team, but more than that, I feel like this Palace unit are really good friends off the field.

"You can feel that when they are winning trophies.

"It must be such a difficult situation for him because there could be the option for him to go on and win major trophies with big clubs, or see something through that he started with his team-mates."

Over the past few seasons, Guehi has also established himself as a key member of the England defence and Murray feels the financial pressure to sell will become too much for Palace.

"As a former Palace player, I don't want him to leave but I think he will," Murray added. "Steve Parish has been backed into a corner and he can't let him leave for free.

"Whether he would be willing to pen another year to ease that pressure and then get an agreement that he will be leaving next summer regardless, I am not sure.

"That is something I would be trying to get him to do if I was chairman of the football club."

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Tottenham are confident they have put together a deal for Eberechi Eze, 27, that will satisfy Crystal Palace, who value their England midfielder at £68m. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has offered up his annual predictions:

9) Crystal Palace

Last season: 12th

Palace's fortunes, and consequently their league placing, will inevitably be shaped by the fortunes of two of their most influential figures.

And that means whether they keep hold of prized assets Marc Guehi - their captain - and FA Cup final match-winner Eberechi Eze.

There is serious doubt surrounding Guehi's future - with Liverpool trying to close a deal - while Eze has attracted interest from both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

Irrespective of their final destinations, this is a Palace side with quality running right through it under the leadership of a top-class manager in Oliver Glasner - although he has sounded frustrated that more has not been done to build on last season's historic success.

They have already shown what they are about with the Community Shield win over Liverpool, with keeper Dean Henderson and Adam Wharton (surely a contender for an England start) influential - plus an attack which has Jean-Philippe Mateta as its focal point with Eze and Ismaila Sarr serious threats.

I can still see Palace having a very good season - despite the anger around their fall-out with Uefa over their exclusion from the Europa League - but they will have an even better one if they keep at least one of Guehi and Eze, as well as making a dent in the market themselves.

Read the full piece

Nice are advancing in talks with Crystal Palace over a deal for 27-year-old French forward Odsonne Edouard. (Footmercato - in French), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport