Oliver Glasner Prioritises Current Matches Over Future Goals As Crystal Palace Thrives

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is focused on the present, as his team enjoys a promising season. With recent victories in the FA Cup and Community Shield, Palace sits fifth in the Premier League and advances in both the EFL Cup and Conference League. Despite their success, Glasner emphasises taking each match as it comes, especially with a London derby against Fulham approaching.

"At the moment it's really game by game, and preparing the team and looking who's available," said Glasner. "There are so many games to play, and no time to think about the end of May." He highlighted upcoming matches in various competitions, including a quarter-final against Arsenal in the EFL Cup.

Fulham currently holds 15th place after 14 matches but showed potential during a narrow 5-4 loss to Manchester City. They trail Crystal Palace by six points. Fulham's manager Marco Silva believes playing at home could be advantageous against Palace. "Knowing that we are playing at home, Craven Cottage is going to be bouncing again," Silva stated.

"It's what we want, looking for ourselves, respecting of course Palace, but looking more for ourselves," Silva added. He acknowledged Palace's defensive strength, noting their impressive record of clean sheets away from home.

Fulham's Samuel Chukwueze has been a standout performer this season. Averaging a goal or assist every 46 minutes, he has scored twice and assisted three times in just 229 minutes of play. This makes him one of the most efficient players in Premier League history for goal involvement.

On the other hand, Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta is third in league scoring with seven goals but has yet to score against Fulham in five attempts. Despite having ten shots and an expected goals (xG) of 1.52 against them, he remains goalless versus the Cottagers.

Match Prediction: A Tight Contest

Palace boasts seven clean sheets this season, second only to Arsenal’s eight. They have conceded just 11 goals so far and kept four shutouts in their last five matches. Their last London derby ended with a 2-0 victory over Brentford; however, they have not won consecutive derbies since April 2017.

Fulham's recent home form in London derbies shows inconsistency with three losses and two wins from their last five games. They lost 1-0 to Arsenal recently and haven't beaten Palace at home since January 2005.

Statistical Insights

According to Opta's win probability model, Crystal Palace has a slight edge with a 40.8% chance of winning compared to Fulham’s 33.5%. The likelihood of a draw stands at 25.7%. In their last encounter at Craven Cottage in February, Palace secured a 2-0 win.As both teams prepare for this crucial clash, they aim to leverage their strengths while addressing weaknesses exposed in recent performances. The outcome could significantly impact their standings as they navigate through this competitive season.