Fredrikstad vs Crystal Palace Prediction: Eagles to spread their wings

Crystal Palace have one foot in the Uefa Conference League main draw as they hold a 1-0 lead over Fredrikstad in their play-off tie. The second leg takes place on Thursday (17:00 BST, Channel 5) in Norway as the Eagles look to get the job done.

Below you will find my Fredrikstad vs Crystal Palace predictions, accompanied by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

The hosts' first-choice goalkeeper Valdemar Birkso missed the first leg with an unspecified injury and he is not expected to recover in time for the second leg, so 20-year-old Martin Borsheim should continue to deputise in net.

Football Odds

With a one-goal deficit to overcome, the Norwegian outfit will turn to forward Emil Holten for inspiration, with the attacker having scored a club-most six goals this season - four of which have come at Nye Fredrikstad Stadion.

Palace have a pretty lengthy injury list, with Cheick Doucoure, Chadi Riad (both knee) and Eddie Nketiah (muscle) all unavailable for selection. This is not helpful for boss Oliver Glasner, with his side already lacking in squad depth. Daichi Kamada has a knock that will need to be assessed ahead of Thursday's match.

Midfielder Matheus Franca has been sent out on loan to Vasco da Gama, while Eberechi Eze has finally completed his switch to Arsenal. Marc Guehi remains available despite wanting a move to Liverpool before the transfer window closes.

Today's Football Fixtures

Jefferson Lerma played in defence in the first leg and he may continue this role in Norway, while Borna Sosa is an option to rotate with Tyrick Mitchell at left wing-back.

Fredrikstad vs Crystal Palace Odds

Fredrikstad have won two of their last four home games in all competitions and they are 13/2 to prevail in 90 minutes.

Crystal Palace have drawn three of their previous four competitive fixtures (in regulation time) and the stalemate is on offer at 10/3 - which has an implied probability of 23.1%.

The Eagles are the 2/5 favourites to win the match, having won the first leg last week.

At least one team has failed to score in two of the visitors' past three fixtures and BTTS - No is on offer at 8/11.

Crystal Palace and under 2.5 goals @ 12/5

They may only have a one-goal lead heading to Norway but Palace were very comfortable against Fredrikstad in the first leg at Selhurst Park and probably should've put the tie to bed, having had 25 shots at goal over the course of the game.

The Eagles remain in the driving seat, though, and they will look to get the job done on Thursday evening. The onus will be on the hosts to come out all guns blazing but as we saw last week, they don't possess the quality that their opponents have, and any mistakes they make in trying to overturn the deficit is likely to see them punished by Glasner's men.

Palace may not be able to rotate as much as they like, with the club hoping to bolster their ranks in the final week of the transfer window, but their first XI should have no issues in defeating Fredrikstad for a second time.

To boost the odds, I've gone for under 2.5 goals as well because this has been a trend in each of the visitors' past three contests.

Crystal Palace clean sheet @ 9/10

To follow on from my first selection, I think there's also value to be had in backing Crystal Palace to keep a clean sheet. The Eagles have looked strong defensively at the start of this season, recording clean sheets against Chelsea (away) and another against Thursday's opponents a week ago at Selhurst Park.

Even at the weekend, Palace only conceded one goal against Nottingham Forest and that was thanks to an incredible pass from Dan Ndoye to set Callum Hudson-Odoi through on goal.

Fredrikstad offered very little against Palace's defence in the first leg and I think the Eagles back line can stand firm again.

Offers

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