Crystal Palace v Fredrikstad match preview
Crystal Palace’s European debut is not in the competition the Eagles wanted following their demotion to the Conference League but the occasion remains historic for the Premier League club and a chance to take control of their tie to decide who will reach the competition proper.
Oliver Glasner’s side are hot favourites to beat opponents who are eighth in Norway’s Eliteserien after 19 games of their domestic season, having won the Norwegian Cup for a joint-record 12th time to qualify for Europe.
“Every player prefers playing a game to training,” said Glasner, discussing a busy schedule after his side drew 0-0 at Chelsea in their opening game of the Premier League season on Sunday, with a trip to Nottingham Forest coming up less than 72 hours after they meet Fredrikstad.
“The players are completely recovered – you could see that [in training] – so there’s no reason to make a lot of changes.
“This is how we want to be, taking every single game seriously and always showing our personality. If we do this, we know we can be quite successful.”
Back in Europe for the first time since 2009, Fredrikstad were knocked out of Europa League qualifying courtesy of a 3-1 defeat at home and 2-0 loss away to Danish Superliga runners-up Midtjylland.
At 208th in UEFA’s club co-efficient rankings, they are the lowest-placed Norwegian team and 120 positions below Palace.
Manager Andreas Hagen, 39, was appointed near the end of a season in which The Aristocrats finished sixth and had the fourth-highest average attendance in the division, of 8,490.
They have won two of their last 14 matches in all competitions, although one of those was in their last home league game, coming from behind to beat second-bottom Stromsgodset with an 88th-minute winner from on-loan Elfsborg forward Emil Holten.
The other victory along the way was a memorable one, beating Molde – their victims in the Norwegian Cup final – 4-2 at home, having been 2-0 behind in the 80th minute.
Crystal Palace v Fredrikstad team news
Centre-back Chadi Riad, midfielder Cheick Doucoure and forward Daichi Kamada are all out for Palace with knee injuries.
Right-back Caleb Kporha has a back problem and forwards Eddie Nketiah (hamstring) and Matheus Franca (muscle) also miss out.
Palace are widely reported to be in negotiations with Tottenham over Eberechi Eze but the forward is likely to start again, as will captain Marc Guehi despite interest from Liverpool.
Johannes Nunez joined Fredrikstad from seventh-placed KFUM for a reported fee of around £580,000 on Tuesday.
Centre-back Brage Skaret has moved in the opposite direction, landing Fredrikstad a forward responsible for eight goals and four assists in 16 appearances in all competitions this season.
“I have always had a dream of competing at the top of Norwegian football and we can do that here,” the 28-year-old told Fredrikstad’s website. “Everything is in place here to compete with the best.”
Defender or midfielder Solomon Owusu, midfielder Joannes Bjartalid and forward Henrik Skogvold came in for the second leg against Midtjylland in place of Sondre Sorlokk, Daniel Eid and Holten.
Crystal Palace v Fredrikstad predicted line-ups
Palace starting XI: Henderson, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell, Wharton, Hughes, Sarr, Eze, Mateta
Fredrikstad starting XI: Borsheim, S Owusu, Stray Molde, Rafn, L Owusu, Metcalfe, Fredriksen, Bjartalid, Ohlenschlaeger, Woledzi, Skogvold
Is Palace v Fredrikstad on TV? Live online stream, channel
Kick-off on Thursday is at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT), with live coverage on Channel 5, which is channel 105 on Freeview HD, Sky and Virgin Media.
Fans can watch the action online on a vast variety of devices and on the move through the Channel 5 app.
