#207 ptsW2 D1 L7GD -14
Crystal Palace sacked manager Pierre Sage after 16 games in charge, BBC Sport and Sky Sports report. The sacking came days after a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Sunday 8 November. Palace are 20th in the Premier League on 7 points. Their league record is two wins, one draw and seven losses, with 10 scored and 24 conceded, a goal difference of minus 14. The Guardian wrote that Sage's failure to fix defensive flaws leaves Palace seeking a new solution. Daichi Kamada has four goals and three assists in all competitions. Palace have won two of their ten league games. Jørgen Strand Larsen and Yéremy Pino each have four goals in all competitions. Palace go to Coventry on Saturday 21 November at 10:00 am ET.
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#187 ptsW2 D1 L6GD -12
Crystal Palace's hold on a Europa League place is the condition Thursday tests — entering the week with Jean-Philippe Mateta suspended after his 13th-minute red card at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the squad is thinner where it can least afford to be.
The 0-2 away loss to Tottenham Hotspur four days ago was Palace's third defeat in nine Premier League games, leaving them on seven points and level with Manchester United — though a place below on the table — with goal difference at minus-12 making every clean sheet a structural priority. The Playbook expects Palace to hold TSG Hoffenheim and take at least a point at Selhurst Park on Thursday. Pierre Sage, per ESPN, vowed after Saturday's loss that he would never give up, and it is the Europa League — where the pressure of the relegation fight does not follow him in the same way — that offers the clearest decision for him to shape. Without Mateta, Jørgen Strand Larsen, who has four goals across all competitions this season, is the role the selection rests on; next to him, Daichi Kamada's three goals and three assists give Palace a second source of consequence in the final third. Whether that is enough to control a home fixture, without the defensive certainty a full complement demands, is what the Selhurst Park night will settle.
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#187 ptsW2 D1 L6GD -12
# Crystal Palace lose at Tottenham and turn to Europa League test
Crystal Palace's Premier League difficulties deepened with a 2-0 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, October 31. The result followed a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle United on October 25 and a 5-0 defeat at Brighton on October 18. Palace now sit 18th in the league, with a home Europa League match against TSG Hoffenheim approaching on Thursday, November 5.
The Guardian's match report says Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off early at Tottenham, compounding the pressure on manager Pierre Sage. BBC Sport's account also identifies the red card in Palace's 2-0 defeat.
Palace have seven points from nine league games, with two wins, one draw and six defeats. They have scored nine league goals and conceded 21, a minus-12 goal difference. Nottingham Forest are three points below them in 19th, while Coventry City sit above on nine points. The gap between Palace and the clubs immediately around them is small, but the goals-against record is a clear concern.
There have been more positive results in other competitions. Palace beat Fulham 1-0 away in the Carabao Cup on October 28 and drew 2-2 away to Besiktas in the Europa League on October 22. Those fixtures are distinct from the league losses and show why a change of competition offers a fresh challenge rather than a continuation of the same table race.
Daichi Kamada has three goals and three assists in 14 appearances across all competitions. Jørgen Strand Larsen has four goals and one assist in 11, and Yéremy Pino has four goals in 14. Adam Wharton has three assists in 14 appearances. These totals are not confined to the Premier League.
Kick-off against TSG Hoffenheim is at 12:45 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 5, in the UEFA Europa League. Their league record reads two wins, one draw and six defeats from 9 matches, with 9 scored and 21 conceded for a goal difference of -12.
Hoffenheim visit Selhurst Park on November 5 in the Europa League. Palace need a result that can interrupt the wider pattern of defeats, even though a European victory would not itself add points to their domestic total.
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