Crystal Palace vs KuPS Prediction: Eagles to secure victory at home

The Uefa Conference League has not been a breeze for Crystal Palace like so many expected. The Eagles sit outside the top eight heading into the final round of the league phase on Thursday (20:00 GMT, TNT Sports 1) as they host KuPS at Selhurst Park.

My Crystal Palace vs KuPS predictions can be found below, as well as team news and the latest match odds from Betfred.

Team News

Crystal Palace have bid farewell to star attacker Ismaila Sarr, who has joined up with Senegal for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Daichi Kamada picked up a hamstring injury in the defeat to Manchester City on Sunday in the Premier League, and he is going to be absent here. Daniel Munoz has undergone knee surgery and remains out of action, while Cheick Doucoure, Chadi Riad (both knee), Rio Cardines (groin) and Caleb Kporha (back) are still confined to the medical bay.

Oliver Glasner will likely make some changes to his team, but the spine of the side should remain intact. So expect to see Marc Guehi, Maxence Lacroix, Adam Wharton and Yeremy Pino to feature.

Football Odds

KuPS have no fresh injury concerns heading into Thursday's clash. Boss Jarkko Wiss is set to field a strong XI in south London. Shot-stopper Johannes Kreidl is set to be protected by Ibrahim Cisse and Samuli Miettinen in the heart of defence.

Taneli Hamalainen will be hoping for a recall at right-back, while Jaakko Oksanen has scored a team-high three goals in the Conference League this season from midfield.

Today's Football Fixtures

Crystal Palace vs KuPS Odds

Palace have won three of their five matches in the league phase so far and they are 1/5 to come out on top here. Two of them saw fewer than four goals scored, so backing the Eagles to win and under 3.5 goals may appeal at 21/20 (implied probability of 48.8%).

The draw is marketed at 11/2, which has been the outcome of three of KuPS' five league phase appearances. The visitors are 12/1 to stun their Premier League hosts.

Palace forward Eddie Nketiah has two goals in this competition and he is 5/6 to strike anytime on Thursday.

To Win To Nil - Crystal Palace @ 5/6

A victory gives Palace their best chance of advancing to the round of 16 and avoiding a two-legged play-off, something a depleted squad doesn't need. They will, of course, be hoping for teams above them to drop points to open the door, but all they can do for now is focus on themselves.

They are at home, so that's a big bonus for this final contest, and it comes against a side who have managed just one win in the league phase to date. KuPS are fighting for a place in the play-off spots but there should be a huge gulf in class between them and Palace, and I think this will be reflected in the scoreline.

Palace easily brushed aside Shelbourne last time out, winning 3-0, and they also defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 on matchday one. For the most part this season, across all competitions, they have been defensively solid. So I think they are good value to win this clash without conceding.

Anytime Goalscorer - Christantus Uche @ 5/4

Opportunities have been hard to come by for Christantus Uche this season since his summer arrival at Palace. He was handed a start at Shelbourne, and it paid off as he got himself on the scoresheet to bag his first goal for the Eagles.

With main striker Jean-Philippe Mateta out of sorts at the moment, Glasner may deploy Uche up front again against KuPS, and this little bit of consistency could help his Palace career take off.

I think he is a good price to find the net in this contest, and I do think he is worth backing, particularly as his odds are more appealing than Nketiah's.

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