Conference League

2026-03-12 - Crystal Palace vs AEK Larnaca

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Crystal Palace v AEK Larnaca
Football: UEFA Conference League Last 16 First Leg
Thursday 12th March 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Crystal Palace

The FA Cup success should have resulted in a place in the Europa League, but a mistake off the field dropped Crystal Palace into the Conference League and they remain one of the favourites to win the competition. Doing so will mean Europa League Football next season and Oliver Glasner's men have had a weekend to recover after the early exit in the defence of the FA Cup that was won last May.

One of the disappointments for Oliver Glasner and the Crystal Palace squad is that they failed to finish in the top eight of the Conference League standings, but they were able to overcome Zrinjski Mostar in the Knock Out Play Off Round. The Eagles will want to be much more convincing overall and they will need to be if they want to progress to the Quarter Final against an opponent that beat them in the League Phase.

Crystal Palace have just turned a corner in terms of the form being produced and the team have lost 1 of the last 5 games in all competitions, but more importantly have won 3 of the last 4. Since blowing a 2-0 home lead against Burnley, Crystal Palace have won 2 games in a row at Selhurst Park by the same 1-0 scoreline.

Maxence Lacroix is available after serving a domestic suspension. Daniel Munoz picked up an injury against Tottenham Hotspur last Thursday which leaves him doubtful for this fixture.

AEK Larnaca

The season started in the Europa League, but AEK Larnaca were not able to come through the Qualifiers and instead had to slip into the Conference League. Three years ago, AEK Larnaca made it out of the Group Stage in this UEFA competition before being beating by an opponent from the English Premier League and the Cypriot club will be well aware of the size of the challenge in front of them.

Credit has to be given to AEK Larnaca for fighting through the League Phase of the Conference League and finishing in the top eight with an unbeaten run through that section. The side had a 1-2-0 away record, but AEK Larnaca scored 2 goals and conceded a single goal in those matches.

AEK Larnaca had failed to win any of the previous 3 games in all competitions and they had been beaten twice in that time before ending the run in a comfortable 3-0 win last Friday. They have won 3 and lost 3 of the last 6 away games in all competitions, but AEK Larnaca have only managed seven goals in that run of fixtures on their travels.

Head to Head

An early goal in the second half was enough for AEK Larnaca to secure a 0-1 win at Selhurst Park in October.

Prediction

None of the Crystal Palace staff nor players will have to think too far back to know they should not underestimate AEK Larnaca as they look to maintain the push to join London rivals West Ham United and Chelsea in winning the Conference League.

There are not many teams in this competition that Crystal Palace should be concerned about, but they have struggled with the drop into this level.

Some of that is down to the fact that teams will respect Crystal Palace and will sit back and make things difficult, which is not an approach that this group of players will face very often. Instead the biggest threat that Crystal Palace can pose in the domestic League is on the counter with the pace and quality in the final third, but Crystal Palace can just lack that bit of creativity when trying to unlock two blocks of four.

There were signs of that in the very narrow win over Zrinjski Mostar last month and Crystal Palace have only won 2 of the 4 home games in the Conference League.

Recent results have been better domestically, but this is a different set of expectations to manage in the Conference League.

AEK Larnaca are likely to approach this in a similar way as they did when visiting South London in mid-October when putting together a 'smash and grab' victory. They will want to make things difficult for the home team and AEK Larnaca have only conceded once in the 6 Conference League games played this season.

There has been some fortune on their side considering the underlying numbers on the defensive side of the pitch.

And AEK Larnaca have hardly created a lot of chances in the away games played in the competition- that does not mean they cannot present a danger to Crystal Palace, as they have already shown they can, but it may be tough to catch out the Premier League club again.

With all that said, the feeling is that there will still be all to play for when the teams meet in the Second Leg in Cyprus, although Crystal Palace may be able to take a narrow lead into that tie with a clean sheet aiding them on the way to the victory on Thursday night.