Crystal Palace vs AZ Prediction: Eagles target first home win in Europe

Crystal Palace have never won a home European game, and Oliver Glasner’s men will look to right that wrong as they host AZ in the Uefa Conference League (20:00, TNT Sports 1). 

Having beaten Dynamo Kyiv away, the Eagles were stunned by AEK Larnaca at Selhurst Park in their last outing in this competition, so they will want to put things right on Thursday. Below you can find my Crystal Palace vs AZ predictions featuring team news and more. 

Team News

I’m expecting Glasner to go strong here as Palace target a historic win. Jean-Philippe Mateta is set to lead the line once more, with Eddie Nketiah out with a hamstring problem. A lot will rest on the fitness of Adam Wharton, who missed the win over Brentford through illness. 

He will return to the midfield if fit and Daichi Kamada could do with a rest having started 12 of the last 13 Palace games, although it remains to be seen if Glasner risks taking him out of the side in favour of Will Hughes or Jefferson Lerma. 

Borna Sosa is back after his Conference League suspension and could play ahead of Tyrick Mitchell, while it’s a toss-up between Chris Richards or Jaydee Canvot at centre-back. I think Glasner can’t afford to rotate too much given the state of play in the Conference League table. 

Football Odds

AZ Alkmaar loanee Kristijan Belic should play in midfield with Issouf Sissokho, while Tyrese Asante and Roy Revivo (what a name that is by the way) will start in defence. 

Today's Football Fixtures

Crystal Palace vs AZ Odds

Crystal Palace are 4/9 to win this game, giving them an implied win probability of 69% for this home tie. AZ by comparison are 6/1 for all three points while a draw is 18/5. Over 2.5 goals can be backed at 4/7, BTTS is 4/5 and Mateta is 11/4 to open the scoring. 

Bet Builder - AZ to score and over 3.5 AZ corners @ 13/8

I’ll start with this Bet Builder, as I think AZ are being underrated heading into this clash. The Dutch giants are in fine form right now having won their last five matches on the bounce in all competitions and I think they will be able to test this Palace side and be competitive throughout. 

The price on them to score, something they have done in 19 of their last 20 competitive fixtures, and to have four or more corners, looks in my mind to be generous. AZ had nine corners in the 1-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday and 12 in their win over Slovan Bratislava last time out in this competition. 

They should be able to pose Palace some problems, even if they can’t find a result. 

Mateta and Parrott 2+ shots on target each @ 6/1

Two top strikers are going to feature here, so I think it makes sense to back both to land a couple of shots on target. In the Premier League this season, JPM has taken 31 shots in total, with 15 of them landing on target at a rate of 1.55 per 90. 

He is Palace’s main attacking threat and should pepper the AZ goal on Thursday, while Parrott is even better on the shot front. In the Eredivisie, he’s averaging 2.94 shots on target per 90 and should be able to trouble the Palace goalkeeper a couple of times. 

Offers

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down