Crystal Palace will face Luton Town in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon at Selhurst Park (9 March).
The Eagles have struggled badly this season under Roy Hodgson and find themselves 14th in the league table as a result. With the amount of talent they have got, Palace should be doing better, although the squad has been ravaged by injuries at times.
Crystal Palace made the right decision to part ways with Hodgson and bring in Oliver Glasner. Palace won against ten-man Burnley in Glasner’s first game in charge but they lost 3-1 against Tottenham the following week.
Chris Sutton has rightly pointed out that Glasner should be given sufficient time to implement his methods. However, Palace also need to win games, especially at home, and that’s why the game against Luton is massive for the club.
Ahead of the match, Glasner has confirmed that Palace attacking midfielder Matheus France will miss Saturday’s Premier League clash against Luton due to a groin injury. Jeffrey Schlupp has returned to training but the fixture has come too soon for him.
“We will miss França tomorrow,” confirmed Glasner. “He has a problem with his groin. But Jeff Schlupp had the training session today.
“He won’t be in the squad tomorrow, but then we have three weeks with no game, and after the national team break I expect him to be back in the squad.”
Fitness update on other Crystal Palace players
Ebere Eze started against Tottenham and scored in that game, and he is inching towards full fitness. Likewise, Will Hughes is also improving on his fitness in training, and that comes as real positive news for the manager.
The Eagles are still without Cheick Doucoure, Rob Holding, Marc Guehi, Michael Olise and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, so Palace are missing a hell lot of key players.
Luton Town are fighting for survival at the moment. They secured a victory against Palace in the reverse fixture, but the Eagles are expected to play with more confidence at Selhurst Park.
A win here for Palace will see them level on points with AFC Bournemouth who have played a game less. There’s still a long way for Palace to get into the top ten but that should be the minimum aim for Glasner at the moment.
