Crystal Palace begin the 2024/25 season away to Brentford on Sunday afternoon.
The game will be a likely debut for two, potentially the three new Crystal Palace recruits from this summer, and also a chance for Oliver Glasner to make a real statement for this upcoming season.
Ambitions are higher than ever at Selhurst Park, with Joachim Andersen even setting the goal of qualifying for Europe – which 12 months ago would have seemed ludicrous.
Crystal Palace will need to adjust to life without Michael Olise as well, but pre-season so far has shown he might not be much of a miss.
Ahead of the season opener, Paul Merson has now shared his prediction, but it won’t make for good reading for Palace fans.
Paul Merson expresses concerns over Crystal Palace
Despite the excitement in SE25 over the upcoming campaign, Merson does not exactly share the excitement or optimism.
He has made this clear in his first SportsKeeda prediction of the campaign where he predicted Palace vs Brentford and also issued a warning.
“Crystal Palace were their own undoing last season because they finished their campaign so well. [Marc] Guehi and [Ebere] Eze could now be leaving the club, and I’d be worried if I was a Palace fan.
“Before you know it, they could become a massive relegation contender. I’d watch this space with Crystal Palace till the transfer window ends.”
Following this, Merson issued his prediction for the game on Sunday afternoon in which he actually went for a 1-0 Brentford win, upsetting the Eagles on day one.
This result would be a shock to many Palace fans given how optimistic Glasner has left everyone around the club.
Paul Merson could end up embarrassed by this prediction
While it is only a pre-season prediction, it is interesting how against the grain Merson has gone, even warning the club of potential relegation danger.
For us, this danger is virtually non-existent with the Eagles far better than several sides at least heading into the upcoming campaign.
Anything can happen in football, but to predict this seems more like a shot in the dark than a well-thought-through statement.
The Eagles may well lose this weekend, but come May, we are confident Glasner will have his side right where he wants it.
