The Oliver Glasner era begins on Saturday afternoon as Crystal Palace hosts Burnley at Selhurst Park in their next Premier League match.
Ray Lewington led the Eagles to a 1-1 draw with Everton on Monday evening, while the Clarets were humiliated 5-0 at home by Arsenal on a dreary Turf Moor afternoon.
Preparations for Palace’s stopover at Goodison Park were far from easy, with Roy Hodgson becoming ill during a training session before stepping down rather than risk the sack from his bosses.
Despite previous concerns that a lack of available – and willing – candidates would prolong Palace’s search for a successor, former Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Oliver Glasner, a Europa League winner with Die Adler in 2022, signed on the dotted line and was in the stands to see the Eagles give Everton a run for their money on Monday.
Before leaving Selhurst Park, Lewington saw Jordan Ayew put Palace ahead with a magnificent long-range shot, but an 84th-minute Amadou Onana header denied the Eagles their first victory of the month.
A point was still a commendable result for the capital charges, who are 15th in the table with 25 points from as many games, five points ahead of Luton Town in the relegation zone, ahead of Glasner’s Premier League debut, where he will become only the second Austrian manager in the competition after Ralph Hasenhuttl.
However, of the 15 previous permanent head coaches to oversee a Premier League game for Crystal Palace, only Alan Pardew won his first game in charge, a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in January 2015, and the Eagles have shipped at least one goal in each of their last eight home games in the top flight.
Burnley’s day was as terrible as the weather during Arsenal’s visit last Saturday, when they followed up their 6-0 slaughter of West Ham United with a five-goal thrashing of Vincent Kompany’s soldiers.
In a fight between two of Pep Guardiola’s proteges, Mikel Arteta gave Kompany a footballing lesson as Bukayo Saka (two), Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, and Leandro Trossard penetrated James Trafford’s goal, handing Burnley their worst Premier League home loss of the season so far.
Only Sheffield United (65) have allowed more strikes past them than the Clarets’ 55, and Kompany’s men remain on a one-way street back to the second tier in 19th place in the Premier League rankings, seven points behind Everton in 17th place.
Burnley has yet to win a single competition since the turn of the year, and they have conceded three goals in each of their previous three Premier League away losses – albeit to Manchester City, Liverpool, and Aston Villa – but travels to the capital typically do not go well for the Clarets.
Indeed, Burnley has failed to win any of their last 22 games in London after conceding at least once, and Palace won 2-0 at Turf Moor in the opposite fixture in November, snapping a five-game losing streak against the Clarets dating back to pre-COVID 2019.
Glasner, who was in charge of the three-man defence, saw Palace use a 3-4-2-1 formation – which appears to be the go-to going forward – against Everton on Monday night, with no fewer than seven men unavailable.
Integral attackers Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze are still nursing thigh injuries, while Marc Guehi’s knee is also bothering him, though the latter two have not been declared out of Saturday’s game yet.
Will Hughes’ foot injury may also be resolved in time for the midfielder to be available to Glasner today, although Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), Rob Holding (ankle), and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (thigh) are very certain to miss this game.
Burnley’s five-goal loss to Arsenal was memorable not just for the scoreline, but also because Aaron Ramsey suffered what appeared to be a major knee injury in the second half; the 21-year-old was given oxygen as he was led off the pitch to warm applause.
Ramsey’s injury has not yet been diagnosed, but he will undoubtedly join Luca Koleosho (knee), Lyle Foster (surgery), and Nathan Redmond (thigh) on the absence list for Saturday’s encounter, where Jordan Beyer (thigh) is also expected to miss out.
With Ramsay out, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Jacob Bruun Larsen will fight it out to return to the Clarets’ XI out wide, and Kompany may also consider renewing a leaky backline with the inclusions of Vitinho or Charlie Taylor.
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