Glasner not thinking 'about the end of May' amid Palace's fast start

Oliver Glasner stated that it is not the time to "think about the end of May" as his Crystal Palace side are on course for another successful season.

Following on from their FA Cup and Community Shield victories, the Eagles are now fifth in the Premier League and in the latter stages of the EFL Cup.

Palace are also on their way to progressing into the knockout stages of the Conference League as their hopes for another trophy continue to increase.

But ahead of their upcoming London derby against Fulham at Craven Cottage, Glasner insisted he is not looking too far ahead. 

"At the moment it's really game by game, and preparing the team and looking who's available," said Glasner.

"There are so many games to play, and no time to think about the end of May.

"We have great games ahead, not just in the Premier League but also in the Conference League – we have two important games – and we’re looking forward to the quarter-final at the Emirates [against Arsenal] in the EFL Cup.

"Many great games to play, and then it's really important to stay focused now on the next game, and don't waste your time about end of May 2026."

Fulham are 15th in the league after 14 games, but saw plenty of positives to work with during their 5-4 defeat to Manchester City last time out.

Despite being in the bottom half of the standings, the Cottagers are just six points behind their upcoming opponents.

Fulham boss Marco Silva believes their home advantage could play a pivotal role against a tough Palace side.

"Knowing that we are playing at home, Craven Cottage is going to be bouncing again, I really believe, and they are going to help the team to try to win the game," said Silva.

"It's what we want, looking for ourselves, respecting of course Palace, but looking more for ourselves, what we can do, and let's go for winning ways again at home, against a very good side.

"A side that normally has the capacity to keep clean sheets – if you look for the number of clean sheets away from home, from the last probably 20-30 games, it's been impressive from them."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Fulham – Samuel Chukwueze

Fulham's Samuel Chukwueze is averaging a goal or assist every 46 minutes in the Premier League this season, scoring two and assisting three in just 229 minutes.

It's the best minutes per goal involvement of any player in the competition's history (min. 200 minutes).

Crystal Palace – Jean-Philippe Mateta

Jean-Philippe Mateta, the league's third top scorer this season (seven), has never scored a Premier League goal against Fulham in five games against them, his joint-most against a side without a goal (also five vs Southampton).

He's had 10 shots and registered an expected goals (xG) of 1.52 without scoring against the Cottagers.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

Only Arsenal have kept more clean sheets (eight) and conceded fewer goals (seven) in the Premier League this season than Palace (seven clean sheets, 11 goals conceded), with the Eagles keeping a shutout in four of their last five games.

Palace won 2-0 against Brentford in their last Premier League London derby – they have not won consecutive derby matches since April 2017 (vs Chelsea and Arsenal).

Fulham have alternated between defeat (three) and victory (two) in their last five home London derbies in the Premier League, losing 1-0 against Arsenal last time out in October.

The Cottagers have failed to win any of their last six Premier League home games against Palace (D3 L3) since a 3-1 victory in January 2005.

Palace won this exact fixture 2-0 in February, ending a six-game winless run against Fulham in the Premier League (D4 L2).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Fulham – 33.5%

Draw – 25.7%

Crystal Palace – 40.8%