October 21 2026

Palace

Palace have taken one point and scored no goals in their two league games after European nights this season, and this week brings the longest trip yet, writes John Winter.

Palace's week starts in Istanbul. On Thursday they face Beşiktaş at Beşiktaş Park, with an 8pm UK kick-off (10pm local time) and around 2,100 Palace supporters in the away end. Less than 70 hours later, Newcastle arrive at Selhurst Park for a 2pm kick-off on Sunday.

It comes at an awkward moment. Sunday's 5-0 defeat at Brighton came three days after a 3-2 loss in Lyon, and Palace sit 14th with seven points from seven games. Thursday-Sunday weeks are now part of life in SE25: Palace played 60 matches last season and could play as many as 67 this time.

So is the European schedule to blame for a slow start to the league season, and can this squad cope with what comes next?

What The Numbers Say So Far

Palace have played two league games straight after a European night this season. Three days after beating Lech Poznań 4-0 at Selhurst, they drew 0-0 at Leeds. Three days after losing in Lyon, they were beaten 5-0 at Brighton. That adds up to one point, no goals scored and five conceded.

Pierre Sage did not rotate much either time. Nine of the players who started against Lech also started at Leeds, and eight of the side that started in Lyon kept their places at the Amex.

It would be wrong to put everything down to tired legs, though. This site's report from Elland Road noted that Palace had three fewer days to prepare than Leeds and still "showed few signs of fatigue". At Brighton, the damage was done inside the first ten minutes, which points more to how Palace started than to how much they had left. Two games is also a small sample.

Last Season's Warning

A bigger sample comes from last season. In 2025/26, Palace played 15 Premier League games within four days of a European tie. They won three, drew five and lost seven, collecting 14 points at an average of 0.93 per game. In their other 23 league games they took 31 points, or 1.35 per game. Across those post-Europe matches they scored 13 and conceded 21.

There is a fair caveat. Those 15 games included Arsenal, Manchester City and two meetings with Manchester United, so the fixture list did Palace few favours.

Even so, the pattern is hard to ignore, and Palace finished 15th. But that season also ended with Jean-Philippe Mateta's goal beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in Leipzig and the Conference League trophy coming back to south London. The schedule cost Palace league points, but it also brought them a European trophy.

Who Can Sage Trust?

Seven players have started all four of this season's Thursday-Sunday games: Walter Benitez, Chris Richards, Quinten Timber, Adam Wharton, Tyrick Mitchell, Yeremy Pino and Jorgen Strand Larsen. That is a heavy load for a small core, particularly in midfield.

Andy Blake wrote on this site in September that Sage is "not a great believer in rotation for rotation's sake", and his team selections so far bear that out. The options are there, though. Ismaila Sarr and Eddie Nketiah are fit again, while Kamada, Lerma, McNeil, Ahanor, Disasi, Mingueza and Osorio give him alternatives across the pitch. Dean Henderson and Takehiro Tomiyasu were both on the injury list going into the week.

The bigger question is where to make the changes. Sage could rest players in Istanbul and keep his strongest side for Newcastle, or go full strength on Thursday and freshen things up on Sunday. Either way, protecting Wharton and Timber, the engine of the side, in one of the two games looks sensible.

Istanbul Is No Ordinary Away Day

Beşiktaş will not make it easy. They won 3-2 at Hoffenheim last Thursday, with Hyeongyu Oh involved in all three goals, and Beşiktaş Park holds around 43,500 when full. The kick-off is 10pm local time, away fans can expect to be held back for up to 90 minutes afterwards, and the squad is likely to be flying home through the night. The clocks going back early on Sunday morning will at least give them an extra hour in bed.

Newcastle have had no such problem. They are not in Europe this season and will have had eight days to prepare since losing 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. They are 11th on eight points and lost 4-1 at Coventry the week before that, so they will not arrive brimming with confidence either.

There is a precedent worth remembering. Last April, three days after beating Fiorentina 3-0 at Selhurst, Palace beat Newcastle 2-1 on the same ground. Thursday-Sunday weeks can be won.

Why Europe Is Still Worth It

None of this means Europe is a burden Palace should resent. In July 2025, UEFA moved the club from the Europa League into the Conference League because John Textor's Eagle Football, then Palace's largest shareholder, also owned Lyon. Nottingham Forest took the Europa League place, and Palace lost their appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. They then won the competition they had been demoted to, which is how they earned this season's Europa League place. There was a certain irony in last week's opponents being Lyon.

Palace supporters have learned more than most about why it matters who owns what. Football is not the only business where connected brands are worth checking, either: in gambling, casinos that share an owner or a licence are known as sister sites, and knowing those connections before opening an account is no bad habit.

The Europa League table is also far from settled. Palace have three points from two games, and last season the cut-off for the knockout play-offs was nine points, with 16 needed for a top-eight finish. With Hoffenheim and Real Sociedad still to come at Selhurst, the knockout rounds are a realistic target.

What It Means For Sunday

For anyone thinking about Sunday's game, the team sheet an hour before kick-off will say more than the form guide. Prices are set long before Sage names his side, and the early odds cannot know whether Wharton will start fresh or tired.

Gambling rules differ across Europe as much as the football does, and with German side Hoffenheim due at Selhurst on 5 November, a responsible gambling guide for German players is a reminder that setting limits and taking breaks matter wherever a supporter happens to be watching.

Palace can cope with the squeeze, but only if Sage manages minutes across the two games and fixes the slow starts that have cost them so dearly. The schedule explains some of the last month, not all of it. A result in Istanbul, followed by a fast start against a Newcastle side short of confidence, would change the mood at Selhurst before the November break.