Crystal Palace
- Crystal Palace enter the knockout stages of the UEFA Conference League, and this tie with AEK Larnaca marks Palace’s deepest run in European knockout football and could be a test of both teams’ resolve.
- Oliver Glasner’s men are mid-table in the Premier League, but they did pull off a confidence-boosting 3-1 away win over Tottenham last weekend and progressed past Zrinjski Mostar in the Conference League.
- Palace have been in erratic form, but are on an upward curve
AEK Larnaca
- AEK Larnaca finished in second place in the Cypriot First Division with 50 points from 25 games, and their win at APOEL and draw with Olympiakos Nicosia in recent weeks have been followed by two narrow defeats.
- Imanol Idiakez’s disciplined, possession-based, high-tempo system has led them to domestic and European consistency, but his sacking on 4 March 2026 could have unsettled them ahead of the first leg.
- AEK will set up in a flexible 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, emphasizing possession, high full-backs and disciplined pressing, while remaining dangerous on the break and from set pieces
Head-to-Head
- Crystal Palace and AEK Larnaca have only previously met once, at the beginning of the 2025-2026 season
- Hrvoje Miličević and Pere Pons anchor the middle, while Đorđe Ivanović and Waldo Rubio provide width and the ability to deliver crosses into the box for main goal scorer Riad Bajić, who scored the only goal of the game when AEK visited Selhurst Park in October 2025
Key Players
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Players to watch
- AEK Larnaca
- Hrvoje Miličević - anchors the middle
- Pere Pons - anchors the middle
- Đorđe Ivanović - provides width and the ability to deliver crosses
- Waldo Rubio - provides width and the ability to deliver crosses
- Riad Bajić - main goal scorer; scored at Selhurst Park in Oct 2025
- Crystal Palace
- Adam Wharton - engine in central midfield, providing assists and driving the play forward
- Jean-Philippe Mateta - Palace’s top scorer and main aerial and set piece threat
- Daichi Kamada - creativity and set-piece threat from wide areas
- Ismaïla Sarr - creativity and set-piece threat from wide areas
- AEK Larnaca
Betting Insights
- Crystal Palace are 1.22 favorites to win this first leg, which they should be, but AEK have already won at Selhurst Park in the Conference League, making this a much closer affair than the bookies imply.
- Rain forecast and a soft Selhurst pitch could allow AEK to sit compact and look to hit Palace on the break
Prediction
- Palace are set to win the tie overall, but it could be close
- AEK are capable of taking something from this game, particularly on the counter or from set pieces
