- Crystal Palace face Fiorentina
- Oliver Glasner pleased with his defence
- Opted not to rotate them vs Newcastle
Crystal Palace can make history and reach their first-ever European semi-final should they prevail against Fiorentina tonight. They are already in a strong position to take another step towards the final in Leipzig.
Glasner has made just one change to the team that beat the Italians 3-0 in the first leg. Yeremy Pino starts on the left instead of Evann Guessand, who is set to miss the next few weeks with a knee injury.
Palace can’t afford to be complacent despite their commanding lead on aggregate. European nights can throw up surprises and it only takes one goal for the nerves to start creeping in.
Glasner Applauds Defence
Glasner spoke to TNT Sports ahead of the game and he explained his team selection. The Austrian touched on not changing his defence for the Newcastle United win on Sunday:
“We rotated against Newcastle so we should be fresh all three players in the front and in midfield. So they should be fresh, Yeremy Pino started there but then also didn’t play the whole game.”
He added:
“In the defence they are doing so well and they are fresh… so it’s all good!”
All five of his backline who played in the win against Fiorentina in the first leg then started in the victory against Newcastle. That was somewhat of a surprise given Glasner opted to rotate further up the pitch.
But why change what isn’t broken or showing signs of fatigue? Glasner’s defence will prove to be vital if the team go on to win their first-ever European trophy.
Palace Defence Thriving
Tyrick Mitchell is enjoying another impressive season and reached 200 appearances with the South Londoners against the Magpies.
Daniel Munoz is statistically the best right-back in the Premier League right now. In the middle, the loss of Marc Guehi hasn’t had the detrimental effect many anticipated.
That’s thanks to Chris Richards and Maxence Lacroix’s incredible consistency, two rocks at the back. But the shining star of the Eagles’ season has been Jaydee Canvot, who has done phenomenally at the age of 19.
Canvot arrived from Toulouse last summer and is showing maturity beyond his years. The French centre-back has nailed down a starting berth in Glasner’s team.
