LONDON: Crystal Palace head into Sunday’s Community Shield versus Liverpool with a worry list ranging from injuries and lacklustre transfer business to their pending appeal against UEFA’s decision to demote them from the Europa League.
Manager Oliver Glasner guided Palace to a new height in May as they won their first major trophy, beating Manchester City to clinch the FA Cup. But joy at the South London side’s first appearance in the Community Shield has been dampened by their off-field issues.
Palace were dropped to UEFA’s third-tier Conference League last month in an alleged multi-club ownership breach because John Textor, president of Olympique Lyonnais majority owners Eagle Football Group, also had a controlling stake in Palace.
Eagle sold their stake in Palace last month, and the English club appealed against the demotion at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with the hearing set for this month.
“If you have to play in the Conference League, it feels like we have been punished,” Glasner told reporters on Friday.
“We hope that this verdict brings us back into the Europa League because, as I said, we haven’t done anything wrong.”
To add to Glasner’s worries ahead of Sunday’s clash at Wembley, striker Eddie Nketiah is out for eight weeks after suffering an injury during pre-season and midfielder Cheick Doucoure will not return for another two months.
“We have also had injuries to (Matheus) Franca and (Caleb) Kporha too. So we are short of numbers. If we want to be competitive, we have to add players with good quality,” Glasner added.
But Palace have not been active enough to make up the numbers they need for their first season with a UEFA competition since the 1998 Intertoto Cup, the manager said.
“We have been quite passive in the transfer window. We have to add a few players to be ready for all the competitions,” he said.
“In a situation like this now, we definitely need two more players, one at the back and one in the attack.”
Eberechi Eze, who scored the FA Cup winner, has also been linked with a move away.
“He will play on Sunday, definitely,” Glasner said.
Glasner said his players were looking forward to taking on Premier League champions Liverpool regardless of the problems.
“Liverpool (are) a top team and it’s much better than playing friendlies. It’s a chance to win a trophy and the chance to compete with the champions. We want to show our personality again,” he added.
Meanwhile, Liverpool coach Arne Slot said his side is relishing the challenge of facing Crystal Palace, as the Premier League champions aim to begin the new season with silverware and prepare for their title defence.
“It’s nice if you can start the season by winning something. We have a chance at the beginning of the season. We face a difficult Crystal Palace side. They have shown how hard it is to win a one-off game with them,” Slot told reporters.
“Counter-attacks, set-pieces, long-balls to (Palace striker Jean-Philippe) Mateta and individual quality of their forwards.
“Palace hit the ground running again, it is still the same team. A good challenge for us to start the season.”
Liverpool’s last trip to Wembley ended in a surprise 2-1 League Cup final loss against Newcastle United in March, but Slot was not dwelling on that.
“Not looking back because it’s a different system Newcastle played,” the Dutchman said.
“But the way they played might be similar to how Palace play. They used every freekick to get the ball in our box. Palace are a threat at set-pieces. There are maybe a few overlaps between the two sides.
“On Sunday, one goal will be worth a lot.”
Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025
