Crystal Palace vs Hoffenheim Europa League Preview
Crystal Palace host Hoffenheim at Selhurst Park in the Europa League, with Pierre Sage's Eagles keen to take their minds off a poor sequence of Premier League results. The match kicks off at 13:45 EST and 17:45 GMT on Thursday, 5 November.
Eagles are far from soaring in the EPL
Palace are in poor domestic form. They've lost three Premier League matches on the bounce and find themselves in the relegation zone (albeit only by virtue of goal difference) with seven points from nine matches. Pierre Sage's side have been a bit Jekyll & Hyde, occasionally mustering impressive performances in the cups. They beat Fulham away in the EFL Cup and earned a creditable 2-2 draw at Besiktas in this competition, but they also took a 3-2 defeat at Lyon. Sage will hope that a 4-0 home win over Lech Poznan on matchday 1 can be the blueprint for home UEL matches to come against Hoffenheim and Real Sociedad.
Getty ImagesHoffenheim are also consistently inconsistent
Christian Ilzer's side have had similar struggles to Palace. They've suffered back-to-back Bundesliga defeats but did pick up a 3-0 win over Lyon in their last UEL contest, their first points of the campaign following defeats to Besiktas and OFI Crete. Croatian veteran Andrej Kramaric starred against Lyon, scoring and claiming two assists.
Getty ImagesKey stats & injury news
- Ten of Hoffenheim’s 13 matches this term have featured over 2.5 goals.
- Yeremy Pino has scored in all three of Palace's UEL matches this term.
- Hoffenheim haven't drawn a Bundesliga or UEL match all season.
Team news & squads
Crystal Palace vs Hoffenheim Probable lineups
Manager
- P. Sage
