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Eddie Nketiah must step up and Crystal Palace must go all out in Conference League

Eddie Nketiah must step up and Crystal Palace must go all out in Conference League

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It’s a simple situation for Oliver Glasner’s team in midweek, with a victory in the UEFA Conference League guaranteed to send them through to the knockouts and skip the pesky playoffs.

By Karl Matchett

Win and in, don’t mess it up

While Champions and Europa League teams play eight fixtures apiece in this phase, it’s only six for the Conference. With one left to play Palace are ninth – one place below the automatic qualification places for the knock-out stages. But their last match is at home to Finnish side KuPS. A win will ensure Palace move up at least one spot, as Mainz (8th) and Samsunspor (5th) also face off and are both just a point above the Eagles. The prize is clear, but the route to victory perhaps slightly less so – despite KuPS being way down in 25th, they’ve actually only lost once so far while Palace have slightly stuttered, winning three and losing two. Given the vast financial disparity between the clubs and the levels they regularly compete at, the final result should be a foregone conclusion, but the south London side simply have to ensure they put together a professional, disciplined and above all, clinical performance this time.

That hasn’t always been the case in Europe this term. Of course some leeway is granted, given it’s the club’s first ever foray into Europe and getting used to the Thursday / Sunday swing of things takes some time. But it’s also true that following Chelsea’s competition win last year and West Ham in 2022, there’s a case to suggest the spending power of Premier League teams should make them competition favourites more often than not.

Season, squad and standards

While Palace now have the taste of silverware following an FA Cup and a Community Shield triumph, the season will be about the journey for them more often than not, rather than a destination. As such, winning a top-eight spot brings another mini prize to be savoured: two fewer games in February for avoiding the Conference playoffs, and going straight into March’s round of 16.

As Glasner and his team found out at the start of last season, consistency is vital at the highest levels; while Palace ended the year strongly including that cup win, they still only finished 12th in the table primarily as a result of their awful start to the campaign. In the first week of December a year ago they were still in the bottom four, with only two wins to their name.

Faith was kept and standards were reinstated – now they’ve been set and the challenge is to match them, month after month, year after year. Part of that means an expectation on players to step up much more than previously when it really matters; that’s the greatest challenge in football and one made all the harder when teams lose key players such as Eberechi Eze, but Palace have had a few faces step up since who they can look to for yet more match-winning moments…and perhaps a smaller handful who they could really do with coming in from the cold to prove their worth in a competition like the Conference League.

Eddie Nketiah’s chance to shine

If there’s one player Glasner will be looking at to step up, it might be former Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah. The centre-forward has struggled with injury at times, but it’s inconsistency which has been his biggest barrier to regular action – well, that and Jean-Philippe Mateta’s tremendous scoring rates. But Nketiah can only control his own contributions, and they haven’t been enough: three Premier League goals last term and two so far this.

And yet, maybe Europe is the arena where his talents can shine a little brighter: in four appearances and 170 minutes this term, he has two goals and one assist, averages more than two shots on target per 90 and more than 13 touches in the box – both top 98 per cent among forwards in the competition. If Glasner again turns to him as a second competition starter, Nketiah can surely add to his 1.7 xG amassed so far – particularly important as the only Palace players who have a higher tally than that in the tournament to date are Ismaïla Sarr (2.4), now on AFCON duty, and Mateta (2.3), who hasn’t yet scored.

And Palace have been profligate. They have nine goals in five games, but they also have the best xG tally in the competition at 13.5. With 21 big chances created (and 15 missed) they are also out in the top two in that regard, while nobody comes close to their 191 touches in the box. AZ Alkmaar (181) are a distant second and while Lausanne (164) are technically on that podium, the gap is clear: Palace have far more scoring chances and buildup play than pretty much all sides, and will surely add to those numbers with a dominant home performance against Finnish opponents.

Conference League xG leaders

Add in Daichi Kamada with a bad hamstring issue, Yeremy Pino now being a regular Premier League starter and Glasner himself admitting the fixture pileup means he may field two totally different XIs against KuPS and then Leeds on Saturday night, and there’s a high chance Nketiah comes in for this first pivotal clash. How he fares will dictate not just how Palace’s busy week starts, but also how their campaign enters the crucial final straight of the season.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Conference League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Eddie Nketiah must step up and Crystal Palace must go all out in Conference League

It’s a simple situation for Oliver Glasner’s team in midweek, with a victory in the UEFA Conference League guaranteed to send them through to the knockouts and skip the pesky playoffs.

By Karl Matchett

Win and in, don’t mess it up

While Champions and Europa League teams play eight fixtures apiece in this phase, it’s only six for the Conference. With one left to play Palace are ninth – one place below the automatic qualification places for the knock-out stages. But their last match is at home to Finnish side KuPS. A win will ensure Palace move up at least one spot, as Mainz (8th) and Samsunspor (5th) also face off and are both just a point above the Eagles. The prize is clear, but the route to victory perhaps slightly less so – despite KuPS being way down in 25th, they’ve actually only lost once so far while Palace have slightly stuttered, winning three and losing two. Given the vast financial disparity between the clubs and the levels they regularly compete at, the final result should be a foregone conclusion, but the south London side simply have to ensure they put together a professional, disciplined and above all, clinical performance this time.

That hasn’t always been the case in Europe this term. Of course some leeway is granted, given it’s the club’s first ever foray into Europe and getting used to the Thursday / Sunday swing of things takes some time. But it’s also true that following Chelsea’s competition win last year and West Ham in 2022, there’s a case to suggest the spending power of Premier League teams should make them competition favourites more often than not.

Season, squad and standards

While Palace now have the taste of silverware following an FA Cup and a Community Shield triumph, the season will be about the journey for them more often than not, rather than a destination. As such, winning a top-eight spot brings another mini prize to be savoured: two fewer games in February for avoiding the Conference playoffs, and going straight into March’s round of 16.

As Glasner and his team found out at the start of last season, consistency is vital at the highest levels; while Palace ended the year strongly including that cup win, they still only finished 12th in the table primarily as a result of their awful start to the campaign. In the first week of December a year ago they were still in the bottom four, with only two wins to their name.

Faith was kept and standards were reinstated – now they’ve been set and the challenge is to match them, month after month, year after year. Part of that means an expectation on players to step up much more than previously when it really matters; that’s the greatest challenge in football and one made all the harder when teams lose key players such as Eberechi Eze, but Palace have had a few faces step up since who they can look to for yet more match-winning moments…and perhaps a smaller handful who they could really do with coming in from the cold to prove their worth in a competition like the Conference League.

Eddie Nketiah’s chance to shine

If there’s one player Glasner will be looking at to step up, it might be former Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah. The centre-forward has struggled with injury at times, but it’s inconsistency which has been his biggest barrier to regular action – well, that and Jean-Philippe Mateta’s tremendous scoring rates. But Nketiah can only control his own contributions, and they haven’t been enough: three Premier League goals last term and two so far this.

And yet, maybe Europe is the arena where his talents can shine a little brighter: in four appearances and 170 minutes this term, he has two goals and one assist, averages more than two shots on target per 90 and more than 13 touches in the box – both top 98 per cent among forwards in the competition. If Glasner again turns to him as a second competition starter, Nketiah can surely add to his 1.7 xG amassed so far – particularly important as the only Palace players who have a higher tally than that in the tournament to date are Ismaïla Sarr (2.4), now on AFCON duty, and Mateta (2.3), who hasn’t yet scored.

And Palace have been profligate. They have nine goals in five games, but they also have the best xG tally in the competition at 13.5. With 21 big chances created (and 15 missed) they are also out in the top two in that regard, while nobody comes close to their 191 touches in the box. AZ Alkmaar (181) are a distant second and while Lausanne (164) are technically on that podium, the gap is clear: Palace have far more scoring chances and buildup play than pretty much all sides, and will surely add to those numbers with a dominant home performance against Finnish opponents.

Conference League xG leaders

Add in Daichi Kamada with a bad hamstring issue, Yeremy Pino now being a regular Premier League starter and Glasner himself admitting the fixture pileup means he may field two totally different XIs against KuPS and then Leeds on Saturday night, and there’s a high chance Nketiah comes in for this first pivotal clash. How he fares will dictate not just how Palace’s busy week starts, but also how their campaign enters the crucial final straight of the season.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Conference League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.