Shelbourne vs Crystal Palace: Eagles chasing top 8 spot in Conference League
by Geoffrey Ejiga | by Cydias Aujard
Overview: Crystal Palace’s Poor Conference League Run
Palace have picked up just six points in 4 games, which is in sharp contrast to what even the best betting odds suggested.
They opened their league phase campaign with an expected but hard-fought win over Dynamo Kyiv, even with a 76-minute red card. That seemed to be the start of a stellar run, but the reality was much different. Palace immediately lost the second game by 1-0 to AEK Larnaca at Selhurst Park, defying their 1.17 odds to win.
They bounced back with a home 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar in the next game, but then lost the very next game to Strasbourg, which, in all fairness, was a difficult game. However, they now sit just seven places off the elimination zone, and with only two games left and six points to grab, they absolutely cannot lose or draw any other game if they hope to finish top 8.
Shelbourne vs Crystal: A Win for Palace or Another Crash?
If games were won on paper, Crystal Palace would have been four for four already. That's why Shelbourne cannot be underestimated at home, especially against a Palace side that's been underperforming in this tournament. SportyTrader football experts have weighed in on this game in our Shelbourne vs Crystal Palace prediction.
What makes Shelbourne particularly dangerous is that they also have to absolutely win this game, or they'll be mathematically disqualified by the end of this round. While their chances of qualifying are astronomically low, as they've won only 1 point so far, the fact that they can still qualify is just the kind of motivation that brings out all-time performances from even the worst teams.
They undoubtedly have the weaker team, but an advantage for Shelbourne will be their two weeks of rest entering this game. In fact, their last game was the 2-0 loss to Alkmaar in this tournament, and two weeks have given them more than enough time to re-strategize and train for Palace.
Still, even with Palace playing a game just four days ago compared to their opponents, they should beat the Irish team comfortably. Palace are now on back-to-back wins and are unbeaten in seven of their last nine games. Their only losses in that stretch were to Man United (2-1) and Strasbourg (2-1), two very difficult games.
Shelbourne, on the other hand, are on back-to-back defeats and have only recorded one win in their last five games. Will Palace take what should be a routine victory over a much weaker side, or will the crash once again? We’ll find out tonight!
