Strasbourg vs Crystal Palace Prediction: Defences on top at the Stade de la Meinau

Former Brighton & Hove Albion defender Liam Rosenior, now head coach of French side RC Strasbourg, faces an old adversary on Thursday (20:00 GMT, TNT Sports 2) as Crystal Palace continue their Uefa Conference League campaign at the Stade de la Meinau.

Below are my Strasbourg vs Crystal Palace predictions, accompanied by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this league phase game.

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Team News

Abdoul Ouattara (hamstring), Saidou Sow (knee), Maxi Oyedele (muscle), Karl-Johan Johnsson (wrist fracture) and Abakar Sylla (unspecified) are set to sit this one out for Strasbourg due to injury.

Chelsea loanee Ben Chilwell, who spent the second half of last season at Crystal Palace, could be deployed in a back three for the hosts.

Football Odds

Crystal Palace could welcome Rio Cardines (groin) and Chadi Riad (knee) back to their matchday squad on Thursday, but the game comes too soon for Cheick Doucoure (knee) and Caleb Kporha (back).

Strasbourg vs Crystal Palace Odds

Strasbourg are 13/5 to record a third consecutive home win, implying a 27.8% probability of success, with Crystal Palace priced at 19/20, or a 51.3% chance, and the draw at 12/5.

Total Goals - Under 2.5 @ 5/6

These are two defensively solid sides, so we may struggle to see many goals on Thursday.

Strasbourg conceded 44 goals in Ligue 1 last season, boasting the seventh-best defensive record in the division.

This term, Rosenior's side have conceded 17 goals in 13 league games, with only five teams breached on fewer occasions. They're yet to keep a clean sheet in the league phase of the Conference League, but they've only conceded one goal in all three fixtures, with a couple of 2-1 away wins at Slovan Bratislava and Hacken sandwiched by a 1-1 home draw with Jagiellonia.

Today's Football Fixtures

Palace, meanwhile, conceded 51 times in 38 Premier League games last season, putting the Eagles joint-ninth for the best defence.

Oliver Glasner's charges are proving tougher to get past this term, though, as they have been breached just nine times in 12 league matches - only leaders Arsenal (six) have conceded fewer goals.

The south London club have kept three clean sheets in five European outings this season, including one in their first away game in the league phase as they beat Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in Lublin, Poland.

Palace have failed to record a shutout in their last two Conference League contests, but have only conceded once in both, a 1-0 home defeat to AEK Larnaca and a 3-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar at Selhurst Park.

Under 2.5 goals has been a winning selection in three of Palace's last four games across all competitions, including their last two, and it's landed in Strasbourg's last two matches, too, so it feels like a sensible pick for Thursday's meeting between the two teams.

Match Result & Total Goals Over/Under 2.5 - Draw & Under 2.5 @ 10/3

I've already covered the Under 2.5 Goals part, so I'll focus here on why I think backing the Draw could be a wise move.

On the one hand, you have Strasbourg, who have lost just one of their eight home games this season (W5, D2). Their only defeat at the Stade de la Meinau came against Ligue 1 high-fliers Olympique Marseille (1-2), who were close to claiming a point at Real Madrid (2-1) in September, and have beaten Paris Saint-Germain (1-0) and, earlier this week, Newcastle United (2-1) at the Stade Velodrome.

That victory for Marseille at Strasbourg was only secured via a 90+1 winner from Amir Murillo, too, giving you a sense of just how difficult Rosenior's side are to beat at home.

But, can I really back them to win on Thursday?

Strasbourg have drawn both of their European home games this season, grinding out a goalless draw with Brondby in the Conference League play-offs in August before being held to a 1-1 stalemate by Jagiellonia in the league phase last month.

Palace, meanwhile, have lost just two of their nine away matches in 2025/26 (W5, D2), suffering narrow Premier League defeats at Everton (2-1) and Arsenal (1-0) in October.

Five of their away games have produced two or fewer goals, with both of their draws, at Chelsea in the Premier League and at Fredrikstad in the Conference League play-offs, finishing goalless.

Five of Strasbourg's home contests have seen the Under 2.5 Goals line land, too, so at 10/3, I'm seeing value in the above selection.