Detailed Crystal Palace Season Preview: Insights and Predictions

Where Did Crystal Palace Finish Last Season?

Well, we did it.

2025 FA Cup Champions: Crystal Palace

South London & Proud ❤️💙#CPFC pic.twitter.com/0vU3qTXTvY

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 18, 2025

Though a 12th placed finish last season doesn’t appear to be anything to shout about in the face of things, it was a meaningful campaign for Palace. It marked the first time in their history that they have managed more than 49 points in the Premier League, a mark of a side who are steadily improving and on a trend of upwards finishes.

Their magnificent FA Cup triumph over Manchester City only backs up this argument. For any club, winning the first major piece of silverware in their history is a big step in the right direction, and for Crystal Palace, it may also secure them European football for the very first time - they could be competing alongside the likes of SC Freiburg, AS Roma and Aston Villa in the Europa League next season.

However, that spot in Europe as been snatched from their grasp. American billionaire and part owner of Crystal Palace John Textor also holds significant shares in French club Lyon, who, following a successful appeal against relegation from the French top flight, qualified for the Europa League alongside Palace. Due to FIFA's multi-club ownership rules, two clubs owned by the same person cannot participate in the same competition - as a result, following a failed appeal, Palace have been removed from the competition, and instead have been placed in the Europa Conference League.

But while this series of unfortunate events may have shaken many Eagles fans, Palace can take plenty of positives from last season. Ebere Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta showed themselves to be £50+ Million players, while coach Oliver Glasner turned things around in a big way, having failed to win any of the clubs first eight games of the campaign. By the final day, Palace were high on confidence and were unbeaten in eight, and with a draw over Liverpool on the final day, they showed they can mix it with the biggest sides in the country.

Best Result: Crystal Palace 4-1 Aston Villa (Sarr 29’, 71’, Mateta 59’, Nketiah 90+1’; Rogers 52’)

Worst Result: Newcastle 5-0 Crystal Palace (Murphy 14’, Guehi OG 38’, Barnes 45+2’, Schar 45+8’, Isak 58’)

Who Have Crystal Palace Signed in the Summer Transfer Window So Far?

Yeremy Pino from Villarreal - £25.9 Million

🚨🦅 Yeremy Pino to Crystal Palace, here we go! Verbal agreement in place between all parties involved.

€30m fixed fee plus add-ons and long term deal for the winger who said yes to #CPFC leaving Villarreal.

Exclusive story from last week, confirmed. pic.twitter.com/FRcnBWUjnd

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 26, 2025

Borna Sosa from Ajax - £3 Million

Walter Benitez from PSV Eindhoven - Free Transfer

Total Spent: £28.9 Million

Who Have Crystal Palace Sold in the Summer Transfer Window So Far?

Ebere Eze to Arsenal - £60 Million + 8 Million Add Ons

Sean Grehan to Doncaster Rovers - Undisclosed Fee

Malcolm Ebiowei to Blackpool - Undisclosed Fee

Jesse Derry to Chelsea - Undisclosed fee

Jemiah Umolu to Bromley - Season long loan

David Ozoh to Derby County - Season long loan

Owen Goodman to Huddersfield Town - Season long loan

Tayo Adaramola to Leyton Orient - Season long loan

Joe Whitworth to Exeter City - Season long loan

Danny Imray to Blackpool - Season long loan

Jeffrey Schlupp - Released

Joel Ward - Released

Luke Plange - Released

Ben Chilwell to Chelsea - End of Loan

Matt Turner to Nottingham Forest - End of Loan

Total Received: £60 Million + £8 Million in Potential Add Ons

Crystal Palace 2025/26 Squad List

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Walter Benitez, Remi Matthews

Defenders: Rob Holding, Maxence Lacroix, Marc Guehi, Mathaniel Clyne, Chris Richards, Chadi Riad, Borna Sosa, Tyrick Mitchell.

Midfielders: Jefferson Lerma, Daniel Munoz, Daichi Kamada, Will Hughes, Cheick Doucoure, Justin Devenny, Adam Wharton.

Attackers: Ismaila Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Odsonne Edouard, Eddie Nkketiah, Yeremy Pino, Matheus Franca, Romain Esse, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi

Crystal Palace 2025/26 Home, Away and Third Kits

🚨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 | Crystal Palace's new home kit for the 2025/26 season. 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/pklnumIXi3

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) July 12, 2025

Crystal Palace’s new away shirt has dropped. 🏆🦅 pic.twitter.com/Uiteb1R5yr

— Secret Shirt Co (@secretshirtco) July 25, 2025

No third kit confirmed

What is Crystal Palace’s First Premier League Fixture?

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace | Stamford Bridge, London | Sunday, August 17th, 14:00

How Can I Watch Chelsea vs Crystal Palace?

Palace’s opening clash with Palace will be broadcasted on Sky Sports. As of the time of writing, it is unclear which Sky channel the game will be shown on, but it is likely to air on either Sky Sports Main Event or Sky Sports Premier League.

What Are Crystal Palace’s First Five Fixtures?

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace - Sunday, August 17th.

Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest - Sunday, August 24th.

Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace - Friday, August 29th.

Crystal Palace vs Sunderland - Saturday, September 13th.

West Ham United vs Crystal Palace - Saturday, September 20th.

When Do Crystal Palace Play Rivals Brighton in 2025/26?

The M23 Derby has taken on a new level of importance and heat since both Brighton and Palace have been in the Premier League - just last April, Palace beat Brighton at Selhurst Park in a game that saw three sending’s off, with two being shown to the home side. They became the first team in Premier League history to win a game with nine men on the field.

Crystal Palace vs Brighton - TBC.

Brighton vs Crystal Palace - TBC.

Last Five Meetings:

- 05/04/2025: Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton.

- 15/12/2024: Brighton 1-3 Crystal Palace.

- 03/02/2024: Brighton 4-1 Crystal Palace.

- 21/12/2023: Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton.

- 15/03/2023: Brighton 1-0 Crystal Palace.

Who is Crystal Palace’s Manager for 2025/26?

Oliver Glasner is officially a @CPFC legend 💙❤️#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/FpXCYKwAdu

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) May 17, 2025

Since his appointment in February of last year, Oliver Glasner has already ensured his name will go down in Crystal Palace folklore. The softly-spoken German had previously landed high-profile jobs at Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, and his 2022 Europe league title with the latter introduced his style to the wider world.

After a 10th placed finish in 2024, an excellent summer transfer window had many believing that the Eagles were dark-horses for Europe - but a slow start to the season extinguished any European dream … or so it seemed. Around October, Glasner managed to turn his sides’ form around, pulling Palace up the table, as well as navigating a tricky FA Cup run which included victories over Fulham and Aston Villa.

The back end of the season is where Glasner really thrives. In 2023/24, he managed to notch six wins in the last seven games to secure the London side a top half finish, and this season was no different. They went undefeated in their final eight fixtures, with the dramatic FA Cup final victory over Manchester City the stand-out result. Glasner, with his bold, adventurous style that had earned him respect far beyond Crystal Palace, had secured them their first ever major trophy, and initially at least, vaulted them into Europe for the first time in their history.

Who is Crystal Palace’s Player to Watch?

Ebere Eze

One of many Palace players who could be on the move after such a stellar campaign, Ebere Eze’s consistent quality throughout the season reminded everyone of exactly why he has broken his way into the England set up.

Eberechi Eze's opener in slow-motion is pure poetry 🤌#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/k1aLGYWVhY

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) May 17, 2025

Notching 14 goals (including the winner in the FA Cup Final) and 12 assists, it was the most productive season of Eze’s career to date. Moreover, he remained injury free for much of it - playing in 43 games across all competitions, it is the most appearances he has made since the 2019/20 season, when he was playing at Championship side QPR.

Now being circled by the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham attempting to secure Eze’s signature, there is little Crystal Palace fans can do except to cross their fingers and hope for the best. He is without a doubt their star-man, and his goals, assists and overall influence would be incredibly hard to replace. However, he does have a £68 Million release clause in his contract. If Palace are to sell him, those funds will more than likely go towards a like for like replacement, mitigating the damage.

Crystal Palace 2025/26 Season Prediction

Finally earning their first major trophy, and delivering their first silverware of any kind since topping the second vision in 1994, Palace now have a taste for winning, and their superb performance against heavy Community Shield favourites Liverpool earned their second accolade in four months.

Oliver Glasner's side were hugely impressive, notching more shots than a full strength Liverpool side (including Wirtz, Ekitike, Frimpong and Kerkez), forgoing high possession for lethal counter-attacking, a method which proved so effective in the second half of last season. Their win over Liverpool in the subsequent penalty shootout only underlined what a shame it is that they will miss out on their first ever experience of playing Europa League football. For a side that earnt their spot in the competition the hard way, the harsh, emotionless method in watch their prize was whipped away was hard to watch, even for the most neutral of supporters.

However, playing in the Conference League next season could be a blessing - with an easier calibre of opposition, and with Eze and Mateta looking increasingly likely to stay, Palace could make a year of significant progress - if they make the right signings now and in January, and combine them with a domestic and continental cup run, they would be starting to knock on the door of European regulars.

Football Park's Prediction: 11th