- Crystal Palace form: Crystal Palace have won two, tied one and lost two of their last five matches in all competitions (W2, D1, L2).
- Lyon form: Lyon have won three, tied one and lost one of their last five matchs in all current competitions (W3, D1, L1).
- Away form: The Eagles are unbeaten away this season (W0, D1).
Lyon vs Palace to be an engaging encounter
Olympique Lyonnais (10th, 3pts from 1 match) and Crystal Palace (2nd, 3pts from 1 match) will be going at it at the Groupama Stadium in France on Thursday for a place in the next round of the UEFA Europa League 2026-2027. The Eagles are the long shot pick here at 3.0, however, both sides have enough going for them to make an entertaining contest when these two sides go at it in France.
Palace come into this contest having drawn away at Leeds (0-0), lost at home to Bristol City (0-2) and won at home to Nottingham Forest (3-1) in their three most recent matches. While Lyon will be buoyed by their previous result – a 4-0 win over Stade Rennes at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais – and deflated by their most recent result – a 2-1 away defeat to RC Lens in Ligue 1 2026/2027.
Eagles can nick it away from home
Head-to-head:
The only senior head-to-head between these two took place in a 2023 friendly and finished Palace 2-0 at the Selhurst Park. That scoreline is unlikely to be repeated on Thursday, however, we're happy to side with the visitors here as they have looked sturdy enough away from home so far this term (W0, D1).
Tactics and form:
Palace are a football team that are built upon width from their wing-backs, playing direct football, and being able to play quick transitions into the front line. Paulo Fonseca sets Lyon up to play a structured 4-2-3-1 possession based system which looks to trigger press and to protect the centre of the field by compactness.
Les Gones have looked sharp enough at home so far this campaign, winning both of their previous two matches at the Groupama Stadium across all current competitions. However, Palace have an explosive attacking edge in Joergen Strand Larsen, who has 3 of his team's 8 goals across their last 5 matches, and we think that Palace can get it done here.
Goals are coming, but Palace could keep Lyon scoreless
The market expects goals here and we are inclined to follow that thought process with Over 2.5 goals priced at 1.65, but BTTS No is still in play at 2.35.
- Keito Nakamura will be Lyon's biggest threat in Europe after scoring 1 goal in 1 Europa League match so far this year.
- However, Palace have the best goalscorer in Chris Richards, who has 1 goal in 1 Europa League game this term.
- Mohamed Ouedraogo will pull the strings in the center of the park for Lyon and he has 1 assist in 1 Europa League appearance this year, while Ernest Nuamah brings some real bite for Les Gones as they have scored 10 goals in their last 5 combined across all tournaments, with Nuamah notching 3 of them.
