2026/2027 season

Premier League

Team page
Premier League · Team page
Crystal Palace
Head coach: Pierre Sage · Variable sur les deux premières journées selon les feuilles de match Sky Sports : 4-2-3-1 contre Everton le 22/08 (Henderson ; Canvot, Richards, Riad, Muñoz ; Wharton, Kamada ; Mitchell, McNeil, Nketiah ; Mateta), puis 4-3-3 contre Manchester City le 28/08 (Henderson ; Tomiyasu, Richards, Canvot, Khalaili ; Wharton, Kamada, Larsen ; Pino, Nketiah, Plessis).
Rank
13th
Pts
7
P
6
Form
🟡 Average

The essentials at a glance

The summary of this page: estimated level of play, form trend and qualitative verdict. For the details, head to the other tabs.

Editors' ratings
7/10
Attack
3/10
Defence
5/10
Form
4/10
Confidence / mood
Current risk:High

13th with 7 pts from 6 matches: 2 wins, 1 draw, 3 defeats.

9 goals scored, 12 conceded.

Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace meet on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League. The match starts at 15.00 hours, follow the match below in the live environment of FootballPrimer and talk along!

Voetbalprimeur · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

Good afternoon and welcome to the live narrative of the Premier League football match facing Brighton and Hove Albion against the Crystal Palace for Day 7. From the Sports World, we offer you all the coverage minute to minute, the previous, the alignations, the best games and goals of the encounter and the result with all the reactions to the post match.

Mundo Deportivo · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

After a major victory in the Europa League against Crystal Palace, OL will face Niçois launched on a good series. Find here all the information about the meeting.

L'Équipe · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

After a recovery ruined by a defeat on Lens's lawn (1-2), the Gones caught up this Thursday at home by taming Crystal Palace in (...)

Foot Mercato · 17 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

How the team has played recently

Match-by-match results, record and rhythm of the current season.

Latest matches
Wvs Nottingham Forest FC (H) · 3-1
Dvs Leeds United FC (A) · 0-0
Lvs Ipswich Town FC (H) · 2-3
Wvs Fulham FC (A) · 3-2
Lvs Manchester City FC (H) · 1-4
WWDLLL
9 scored / 12 conceded over 6 matches played
Rest: 7 days since the last match · 1 match played in the last 15 days
Home form
1W - 0D - 2L
Away form
1W - 1D - 1L
Statistics

Computed from this season's scores, every time the page is shown.

Goals scored per match
1.8
Goals conceded per match
2.0
At home
6 scored · 8 conceded in 3 matches
Away
3 scored · 2 conceded in 2 matches
Over 2.5 goals
4 of 5
Both teams score
4 of 5
Clean sheets
1 of 5
Failed to score
1 of 5
Cumulative points vs league average

Not enough matchdays recorded yet for this curve — history builds up with every standings refresh.

How Crystal Palace play

System, playing identity, and what sets the team apart at both ends of the pitch.

Playing identity
Preferred system
Variable sur les deux premières journées selon les feuilles de match Sky Sports : 4-2-3-1 contre Everton le 22/08 (Henderson ; Canvot, Richards, Riad, Muñoz ; Wharton, Kamada ; Mitchell, McNeil, Nketiah ; Mateta), puis 4-3-3 contre Manchester City le 28/08 (Henderson ; Tomiyasu, Richards, Canvot, Khalaili ; Wharton, Kamada, Larsen ; Pino, Nketiah, Plessis).
Philosophy
Sage emphasises consistency and fluidity of play, insisting on maintaining the level over the full duration of the match rather than in spells (Sky Sports, 27/08/2026). No source consulted describes his build-up principles at Palace in detail.
Attacking strengths
A department in serious difficulty: just 1 goal in 2 matchdays, and that an opposition own goal (Yeremy Pino free-kick deflected in by Donnarumma, 56', against Manchester City). Against Everton, Palace dominated possession and produced 2.04 xG without scoring, with Nketiah and Mateta both hitting the post.
Defensive solidity
A quantified weak spot: 6 goals conceded in 2 matchdays, including 4 against Manchester City (Haaland 17' and 84', Cherki 54' and 59'). Worst goal difference in the league alongside Tottenham (-5), 19th in the table.
Pressing
Not verified. No source consulted provides data on the height or intensity of Palace's pressing in 2026-27.
Transitions
Not measurable after two matchdays. Factual element noted by Sky Sports: Everton scored both of their goals on the counter-attack on 22/08 while Palace dominated possession, which suggests a vulnerability in defensive transition without this being statistically established.
StrengthIndividual quality retained in midfield (Wharton, Kamada) and up front (Nketiah, Mateta, Pino), an accomplished first half against Everton acknowledged by the head coach himself, and European qualification secured: Palace are playing in the Europa League as 2025-26 Conference League winners (Sky Sports, 28/08/2026).
WeaknessNo points taken, a defence to rebuild after the departures of Marc Guéhi and Maxence Lacroix (Sky Sports, 25/08/2026), Chadi Riad's injury as early as matchday 1, the inability to convert dominance, and a late-match drop in intensity acknowledged by Sage.

The mood around the club, and who is missing

Internal climate, relationship with the supporters, and known absences before the next match.

Mood
Squad confidence
At their lowest since the Conference League title. Two defeats, including a 1-4 conceded at Selhurst Park against Manchester City, leave Palace 18th with a single goal scored and the worst goal difference in the league. Pierre Sage, new to the Premier League, owned his frustration by saying his team did not deserve to win but deserved to win the first half, a phrase that sums up the current inconsistency. Ben Chilwell's return, speaking of a very special bond with the Selhurst Park crowd, provides a welcome emotional counterpoint. The derby at Craven Cottage, against a side also on no points, already looks like a psychological turning point.
Coach / players / board relationship
No tension between Pierre Sage, the board and the dressing room is reported by the sources consulted, and the end of the window in fact showed a combative board. The club tried to the last to hijack the Malick Fofana deal before Sunderland matched it, then completed the arrivals of Quinten Timber, Ben Chilwell and Darío Osorio in the closing hours. Sky Sports rate that window 7 out of 10, judging that Palace compensated reasonably for the departures of Maxence Lacroix and Daniel Muñoz while keeping Adam Wharton and Jean-Philippe Mateta. The same outlet's value analysis even ranks the club the third most efficient in the league.
Mood with the supporters
The bond between the team and Selhurst Park remains the club's greatest asset, and Ben Chilwell described it in detail on his return: when you play at Selhurst Park in front of those supporters, and when you see the backing they give away from home, it is hard to define but it is a very special feeling. He adds that every match was incredible to play in front of them and says he wants to help put smiles back on their faces. No protest movement is reported by the sources consulted despite the pointless start. The context remains supportive, with a second consecutive European campaign and eight league-phase fixtures ahead.
Pressure on the head coach
Still low given how recently he arrived, but rising with every matchday without a win. Pierre Sage took over in the close season and has taken charge of only two league matches, both lost, one of them heavily at home. No source consulted publicly questions his position, and he has the credit that comes with a heavily rebuilt squad and an unprecedented European schedule. September, with six matches in three weeks, will give him both opportunities to rotate and an immediate test of resilience.
Club objectives
The club has not announced a numerical objective in the league, but its programme is busy and precisely dated. Palace are in the Europa League league phase with eight known opponents, from hosting Lech Poznań on 17 September to the trip to Salzburg on 28 January, taking in Lyon, Beşiktaş and Real Sociedad. The League Cup, described by Yahoo Sports as a competition that has curiously eluded the club these past two seasons, resumes on 8 September against Middlesbrough. Pierre Sage summed up his frame of mind by saying he came to Crystal Palace to win, not to stroll around a theme park. The immediate priority nonetheless remains taking a first point.
Recent internal tensions
The Ismaila Sarr situation is openly contentious: Sky Sports' headline reads “Sarr wants to leave but Eagles refuse to sell”, after an approach from Liverpool. Jean-Philippe Mateta, in the final year of his contract and courted by Aston Villa, appeared neither in the starting XI nor on the bench against Manchester City on 28/08; no source consulted gives the reason.
Absences
InjuredJean-Philippe Mateta — Thigh injury, return estimated in mid-October.
InjuredChadi Riad — Serious knee injury: he is not expected before June 2027.
InjuredIsmaïla Sarr — Groin problem, his return is envisaged in early September.

Before kick-off

What to know before the next match: statistical form, qualitative analysis, and a computed estimate of the 1/X/2 probabilities.

Next match

Brighton & Hove Albion — Crystal Palace

AwaySunday 18 October at 15:00Matchday 7
It's today. Kick-off time confirmed by the league. Paris time · football-data.org fixtures.

Prediction, odds and form of both teams →

What the press says
  • Praat mee op VP: Brighton – Crystal PalaceBrighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace meet on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League. The match starts at 15.00 hours, follow the match below in the live environment of FootballPrimer and talk along!Voetbalprimeur · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated
  • Brighton and Hove Albion - Crystal Palace, en directo | Premier LeagueGood afternoon and welcome to the live narrative of the Premier League football match facing Brighton and Hove Albion against the Crystal Palace for Day 7. From the Sports World, we offer you all the coverage minute to minute, the previous, the alignations, the best games and goals of the encounter and the result with all the reactions to the post match.Mundo Deportivo · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated
Prediction
EstimateBrighton & Hove Albion — Crystal Palace
69 %
1 · Brighton & Hove Albion
16 %
X · draw
15 %
2 · Crystal Palace
In-house calculation, from this page's standings data alone: 6 matches played by Brighton & Hove Albion, 6 matches by Crystal Palace. Confidence: medium
The formula, in plain words — with this match's figures
  1. League average. 189 goals scored over 130 team-matches played (20 teams taken into account), i.e. μ = 1.45 goal scored per team per match. This is the reference point: everything that follows is expressed relative to it.
  2. Attacking and defensive strengths. Goals scored (or conceded) per match, divided by μ. 1.00 = exactly average; in defence, above 1.00 means “concedes more than average”.
    TeamGoalsRawKept
    Brighton & Hove Albion — attack18 in 6 matches2.061.53
    Brighton & Hove Albion — defence5 in 6 matches0.570.79
    Crystal Palace — attack9 in 6 matches1.031.02
    Crystal Palace — defence12 in 6 matches1.381.19
    The “Kept” column is the result of shrinkage towards the mean: weight = P / (P + 6), i.e. 0.50 for Brighton & Hove Albion and 0.50 for Crystal Palace. The rest of the weight goes to the league average. This is what stops a lone 5-0 from producing an attack at 3.3 times the average — and hence a 95% probability.
  3. Home advantage (γ). Measured on the league itself: 1.42 goal scored on average by the host against 1.42 by the visitor, over the 52 fixtures present in each team's last 5 matches. Raw ratio 1.00; shrunk towards 1 (weight 0.44, on the log of the ratio) then capped at 1.25 → γ = 1.00. Shrinkage goes towards 1, i.e. no advantage at all: while the sample is small, the model does not assert a home advantage it cannot measure.
  4. Venue correction, specific to each team. Drawn from the home/away split: points per match at the venue concerned are compared to points per match over all fixtures, with stronger shrinkage (weight = P / (P + 8)) and a bound of ±12%.
    Brighton & Hove Albion at home: 2.33 pts/match versus 2.17 overall over 3 matches → ×1.021
    Crystal Palace away: 1.33 pts/match versus 1.17 overall over 3 matches → ×1.039
  5. Expected goals. One side's attack is set against the other's defence. γ applies to the host only: applying it the other way round too would count the home advantage twice.
    λBrighton & Hove Albion = 1.45 × 1.53 × 1.19 × 1.00 × 1.021 = 2.71
    λCrystal Palace = 1.45 × 1.02 × 0.79 × 1.039 = 1.21
  6. Poisson grid. Probability of every exact score from 0-0 to 8-8, assuming the two goal totals are independent, then adding up the cells: home win 69.0%, draw 16.3%, away win 14.7% — displayed rounded to whole numbers so that they add up to exactly 100. Most likely exact score in the grid: 2-1 (only 8.8%, which says enough about how unpredictable an exact score is).
Limits of this model — they are not anecdotal.
  • It only knows goals and a venue. Neither absences, suspensions, line-ups, fatigue, stakes, weather nor club context enter the calculation — while the other tabs of this page show that they matter.
  • The assumption that the two goal totals are independent is false in reality: it slightly underestimates tight scores, hence the draw.
  • γ is measured over a rolling window (each team's last 5 matches), not over the whole season.
  • The shrinkage constants (6, 60, 8) and the bounds are choices, not measurements. They were tuned to be cautious early in the season; they were not calibrated on a results history, as none is available here.
  • No after-the-fact evaluation has been made: at this stage, nobody knows whether this model is better or worse calibrated than another.
What other sources say
No external source has been collected for this match. That is the normal state: readings are taken by hand, and an empty box is better than an unverified figure.
This block shows probability estimates, not predictions, and carries no advisory value. The in-house estimate is the result of a formula applied to a small sample; the figures from external sources are reproduced as they were collected, without their method having been verified.

The full squad

The professional squad by position, captain marked with an armband.

Goalkeepers
  • Dean HendersonC
  • Walter Benítez
  • Remi Matthews
  • Joe Whitworth
Defenders
  • Chris Richards
  • Chadi Riad
  • Jaydee Canvot
  • Daniel Muñoz
  • Tyrick Mitchell
  • Takehiro Tomiyasu
  • Axel Disasi
  • Óscar Mingueza
  • Borna Sosa
  • Caleb Kporha
Midfielders
  • Adam Wharton
  • Daichi Kamada
  • Jefferson Lerma
  • Will Hughes
  • Anan Khalaili
  • Larsen (prénom non vérifié)
Forwards
  • Eddie Nketiah
  • Jean-Philippe Mateta
  • Yeremy Pino
  • Ismaila Sarr
  • Dwight McNeil
  • Evann Guessand
  • Zavier Gozo
  • Plessis (prénom non vérifié)
Squad last verified on 31 Aug 2026 — source: Reconstructed from the verified Sky Sports team sheets (Everton - Crystal Palace on 22/08/2026 and Crystal Palace - Manchester City on 28/08/2026, Henderson wearing the armband in both) and the worldfootball.net squad page. NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST: the squad pages consulted were truncated. Two players are identified only by their surname on the team sheets; their first names could not be verified..

What has been said recently

Chronological feed of verified information about the club.

rss18 Oct 2026
Talk to me on VP: Brighton Crystal Palace
Source: Voetbalprimeur
rss18 Oct 2026
Brighton and Hove Albion - Crystal Palace, live - 124; Premier League
Source: Mundo Deportivo
rss15 Oct 2026
OL-Crystal Palace : Pierre Sage congratulates Khalis Merah
Source: Foot Mercato
rss15 Oct 2026
Paulo Fonseca, after OL's victory over Crystal Palace: "We totally deserved to win it"
Source: L'Équipe
rss15 Oct 2026
Europa League: Lyon take down Crystal Palace as Benfica overwhelm Celtic
Source: The Guardian — Football
rss14 Oct 2026
OL - Crystal Palace : Pierre Sage finds the Groupama Stadium, "a pleasure to play against him" Fonseca confides
Source: RMC Sport — Ligue 1
Result3 Sep 2026
The table as it stood before matchday 3 puts Crystal Palace 18th with no points, one goal scored and six conceded, the worst goal difference in the league along with those of Aston Villa and Tottenham.
Source: Sky Sports
Club3 Sep 2026
Matchday 3 sends Palace to Craven Cottage on Saturday 5 September at 15:00, for a London derby between two sides who have yet to take a point.
Source: Football Web Pages
Institutional3 Sep 2026
Sky Sports' value analysis ranks Crystal Palace the third most efficient club of the English summer market, with an overall index of £23.1m, behind Chelsea and Aston Villa.
Source: Sky Sports
Transfers2 Sep 2026
Ben Chilwell, back at Selhurst Park after a first loan spell in 2025 that ended with a winning FA Cup final and then a season at Strasbourg, explained his return: it is nice to see familiar faces again, I have very good memories of my time here, on and off the pitch. He says he wants to rediscover that special bond with the crowd and is looking forward to getting to know the new head coach.
Source: VAVEL
Institutional2 Sep 2026
Sky Sports give Crystal Palace 7 out of 10 for their window: the departures of Maxence Lacroix and Daniel Muñoz are considered heavy, but the club kept Adam Wharton and Jean-Philippe Mateta and recruited sensibly rather than spectacularly, with depth judged sufficient to cope with their European commitments.
Source: Sky Sports
Transfers2 Sep 2026
VAVEL's summary details a summer of heavy sales: Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea for £52m, Daniel Muñoz to Nottingham Forest for £22m, Danny Imray to Wrexham for £5m, as well as a swap with Everton, Brennan Johnson going to Merseyside and Dwight McNeil arriving at Selhurst Park. Among the arrivals are Anan Khalaili for £21m, Zavier Gozo for £11.12m, and Oscar Mingueza and Takehiro Tomiyasu on frees.
Source: VAVEL
Transfers1 Sep 2026
The club was very active at the close of the window with the permanent arrival of Quinten Timber from Marseille and the loans of Ben Chilwell, from Strasbourg, and Darío Osorio, on loan from Midtjylland.
Source: Sky Sports
Transfers1 Sep 2026
Borna Sosa was loaned to Cologne on deadline day, while Daniel Muñoz joined Nottingham Forest for £22m over the course of the summer.
Source: Sky Sports
Other1 Sep 2026
Palace came close to hijacking the Malick Fofana deal by submitting a £33.5m offer that had briefly convinced the Belgian, before Sunderland matched it and secured his signature.
Source: VAVEL
Club31 Aug 2026
September contains six matches: after Fulham, Palace host Middlesbrough in the League Cup on 8 September at 19:45, welcome Ipswich on the 13th, open their Europa League campaign against Lech Poznań on the 17th and travel to Leeds on the 19th. The cup tie is billed as the first real opportunity for Pierre Sage to rotate.
Source: Yahoo Sports
News last verified on 18 Oct 2026. Sources: sports press (L'Équipe, Le Parisien, Foot Mercato, regional press…) and official club websites — see the link on each item.
Editorial content (playing style, mood, absences, external prediction sources) last verified on 3 Sep 2026. The standings/form data above are refreshed automatically — as is the 1/X/2 estimate, recomputed on every view.