Pre-season continues for Crystal Palace on Saturday against Crawley in a final fixture before the Eagles head stateside.
For Oliver Glasner, preparation must now ramp up a little bit with the new Premier League season three weeks away.
Crystal Palace have already played two games, both being behind closed doors, but against Crawley is when pre-season properly begins.
The Eagles will be boosted by the returns of Joachim Andersen and Chris Richards, with both now concluded their holidays following international involvements.
As we approach the game, here’s how we’ve predicted the Eagles will line up against Crawley.
How Crystal Palace could line up vs Crawley
It’s the third pre-season game of the summer for Glasner and his Eagles, but how will he line up? Let’s have a look.
Sam Johnstone
In goal, it’s pretty obvious that Sam Johnstone will continue to start. The Englishman has played in both prior friendlies, with Dean Henderson still on holiday.
After losing his No.1 spot to Henderson, Johnstone has the chance to reclaim this with a solid pre-season showing.
Rob Holding
The first of three centre-backs should be Rob Holding with last summer’s arrival finally getting some minutes in Palace colours.
Holding has featured heavily in preseason so far, which likely sees him given the start ahead of a returning Chris Richards, at least in the first half.
Joachim Andersen
Andersen is back after his prolonged holiday due to Euro 2024 participation with Denmark.
Despite only having maybe three days of training, we expect he’ll be thrust into the starting XI here, in order to begin building some relationship with Chadi Riad.
Chadi Riad
Speaking of Riad, he’s featured in both friendlies thus far, and shown positive signs in each of his outings to date.
He’ll be excited to be playing alongside Andersen and will look to show Glasner and the fans that he deserves his place in the starting XI for the Eagles.
Nathaniel Clyne
With Daniel Munoz still on holiday, Nathaniel Clyne could be the player to fill in at right wing-back during his absence.
Clyne has proven himself a reliable option to bring in across various positions under Glasner and here will be no different.
Daichi Kamada
In midfield to date, it’s been Daichi Kamada pulling the strings and dictating play excellently for Glasner’s side, and we expect that it’ll continue here.
Kamada will be giving Glasner a real headache on who to pair him with, as the Japanese international will almost certainly start the game.
- READ MORE: Who is Daichi Kamada? Get to know the new Crystal Palace star reuniting with Oliver Glasner
Cheick Doucoure
After a horrific 2023/24 season, Cheick Doucoure is back and we expect to see him alongside Kamada in midfield for this game.
Doucoure slightly edges Will Hughes for us, as we imagine Doucoure has a better chance of starting the season – as we start to get close to the run-in.
Tyrick Mitchell
On the left, it’ll be Tyrick Mitchell who starts, amid links to Manchester United. But for now, he’s one of the first names on the teamsheet.
The Palace wing-back won’t have Ryan Sessegnon in support for this game as the previously on-trial player is about to join Fulham instead.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi
After his goal-scoring outing against Charlton, we’d like to see Jesurun Rak-Sakyi handed a start here.
The winger has been linked with a move away all summer, but if he continues to impress for the Eagles in pre-season there is no reason he can’t stay.
Jordan Ayew
On the other side for Palace will likely be Jordan Ayew, with Matheus Franca only just returning to training recently.
Ayew is a valuable squad player at this stage in his career, and while we don’t expect he’ll start many games this coming season, he should start here.
Odsonne Edouard
Up top, in the absence of Jean-Philippe Mateta, it’ll be Odsonne Edouard who will continue to try putting himself in the shop window.
Edouard clearly hasn’t impressed Glasner, with Mateta the number one forward undeniably, but with the high scorer from last season at the Olympics, Edouard likely gets the start.
