Crystal Palace seek their first-ever European trophy on Wednesday, as they take on Rayo Vallecano in the final of the UEFA Conference League.
The Eagles were seen as one of the favourites for the competition when the season began, and under Oliver Glasner, the Premier League side has every opportunity to write themselves into Crystal Palace folklore on Wednesday. Glasner will mark his farewell from Selhurst Park on Wednesday night in what is reported to be the final game for the manager, who had won the FA Cup the previous year.
Oliver Glasner's side have been strong in Europe this season, with only three defeats from their 16 matches, scoring 26 and conceding 12. The positive for Crystal Palace is that they have a manager in Glasner who has experience winning European finals, with his 2022 triumph with Eintracht Frankfurt. Defensively, Palace have been without Chris Richards, which has caused problems in the back three, so much so that Palace are without a clean sheet in their last eight matches, so don't expect a clean sheet here for the Eagles.
Rayo Vallecano won't be an easy task for the Eagles, since the Spanish opposition are unbeaten in their previous eight matches in all competitions. Their record in Europe this season has been outstanding, with 10 wins from 14 matches, scoring 1.93 goals per game.
Palace have to be considered favourites for this fixture, but we are predicting a close encounter here. The BTTS market has landed in four of the last five matches involving the Eagles and we believe the same theme will occur here.
The man likely to be the deciding factor between the two sides is Ismaila Sarr. The Senegalese forward has scored nine goals in this competition for the Eagles.
Crystal Palace 2-1 Rayo Vallecano
