EUROPA LEAGUE BETTING PREVIEW - CRYSTAL PALACE VS LECH POZNAN

Europa League

2026-09-17 - Crystal Palace vs Lech Poznan

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Crystal Palace v Lech Poznan
Football: UEFA Europa League Match Day 1
Thursday 17th September 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

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Crystal Palace

Winning the FA Cup meant placing the first piece of major silverware into the trophy cabinet at Selhurst Park, although Crystal Palace were then controversially forced to relinquish the place in the Europa League. Instead they dropped into the Conference League, but Crystal Palace finally get a shot at playing in the second of the UEFA run competitions after winning the third competition last season.

Oliver Glasner was the manager at the helm, but Pierre Sage is trying to stamp his authority on the squad. The Eagles were beaten at home by Ipswich Town this past weekend after an early sending off made things very difficult, but Crystal Palace only suffered a single home loss in 8 European ties last season and won 5 of those.

Crystal Palace may have felt they had turned a corner under the new manager after picking up consecutive wins and then taking the lead against Ipswich Town, but the 2-3 home loss will have stung. That makes it a single win from the last 5 at Selhurst Park and Crystal Palace have lost 3 of the last 4 here.

Axel Disasi was sent off at the weekend and Yeremy Pino was sacrificed, but both should be available for this tie. Some rotation has to be expected, although Dean Henderson is missing through injury. Both Eddie Nketiah and Ismaila Sarr are edging closer to returns and could be involved on Thursday.

Lech Poznan

The Polish top flight tends to be very competitive, but it is Lech Poznan who have won the title in consecutive seasons, although they have not had enough to negotiate the very challenging Champions League Qualifiers. Danish Champions AGF had too much for Lech Poznan earlier this season, but the club learned from the European run last season and have been able to battle through the Europa League Qualifiers.

Last season they dropped all the way down to the Conference League and were eventually eliminated in the Last 16 by Shakhtar Donetsk. This time, Lech Poznan have beaten KI and then Thun by comfortable margins in the Europa League Qualifying Rounds to join the League Phase of the competition. The side are unbeaten in 6 away European ties and had won 5 in a row before a 2-2 draw at Thun.

Lech Poznan were unbeaten in 9 games in all competitions since the thumping home loss to AGF in the Champions League, but that run was ended in a 2-1 defeat this past weekend. They had been unbeaten in 11 away games in all competitions and had won 9 of those matches before Lech Poznan were beaten 2-1 at Gornik Zabrze.

Head to Head

These two clubs both played in the Conference League last season, but did not face one another and so this is the first competitive meeting between the two.

Prediction

There is no doubting that Lech Poznan are going to be amongst the favourites to win the Polish title again and that means a confident team will be travelling to South London.

It makes them dangerous, while the recent run of away results in European competition will also give Lech Poznan confidence.

However, there is a significant gap to bridge to any opponent from the English Premier League, even one that may be struggling for confidence like Crystal Palace.

Pierre Sage is the new manager and the team are still getting to grips with what may be expected of them, while Crystal Palace are missing some real quality through injury. They had looked to be heading towards a third straight win in all competitions last weekend, but the loose defending was punished after Crystal Palace had been reduced to ten men and so there will be some nerves in the home ranks.

In saying that, Crystal Palace did win 5 of 8 home Conference League games last season in their first ever European adventure as they won a competition dominated by English clubs since it was formed.

This will certainly help the team with the experiences picked up and the feeling is that the attacking approach of the new manager may end up being rewarded with an opening win in the Europa League.

Lech Poznan have to be respected, but they were beaten at Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League Group Stage last season and Crystal Palace should have too much for the Polish Champions on Thursday night.

The Pick :

Crystal Palace 3-1 Lech Poznan

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Crystal Palace - 1.25 Asian Handicap at 1.90 with Bet365