- 1 Crystal Palace vs Hoffenheim: Pino’s European run meets a side that can’t keep a clean sheet away
- 2 Crystal Palace: three straight league blanks, but Pino has scored in every European game
- 3 Hoffenheim: a win over Leverkusen, then six changes and a defeat in Bremen
- 4 Free Football Prediction: Crystal Palace vs Hoffenheim
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Crystal Palace vs Hoffenheim: Pino’s European run meets a side that can’t keep a clean sheet away
Jean-Philippe Mateta lasted 13 minutes at Tottenham on Saturday. A yellow card for serious foul play was upgraded to red after a VAR review, Palace finished with 20.6% of the ball, their lowest figure on record in the Premier League, and lost 2-0 to goals from Archie Gray and Van Hecke.
The ban covers three Premier League games, against Liverpool, Coventry and Hull. It doesn’t touch the Europa League, so Mateta is free to face Hoffenheim at Selhurst Park on Thursday 5 November, kick-off 17:45 UK time.
That matters because Europe is the one place Palace still look like themselves. They beat Lech Poznań 4-0 on the opening night, lost 3-2 in Lyon and drew 2-2 in Istanbul with Beşiktaş. Four points, eight goals scored, 15th in the table.
The league is another matter. Palace are 18th with seven points from nine games and a goal difference of minus 12. They’ve lost three straight league games without scoring, the first time that has happened to them since March 2023.
Hoffenheim are 23rd on three points after a 2-0 defeat at OFI Crete and a 3-2 home loss to Beşiktaş, before they beat Lyon 3-0. The sides have never met before.
I think the second of those numbers says more than the first. Palace are in a relegation fight, but at home in Europe they’ve scored four and Yeremy Pino has found the net in every game.
Crystal Palace: three straight league blanks, but Pino has scored in every European game 
Yeremy Pino has carried Palace’s attack in Europe. The 27-cap Spain winger scored in the 4-0 against Lech, again in Lyon and again in Istanbul, and is joint-top of the Europa League scoring list with three. He has one Premier League goal in nine appearances.
Pierre Sage, appointed in June to replace Oliver Glasner, went back to Lyon on 15 October and lost 3-2. In Istanbul they went behind to Ndidi’s goal on the stroke of half-time, led through Pino and Mateta within five minutes of the restart, then conceded a 73rd-minute equaliser and couldn’t find a winner after Akdağ was sent off on 78.
The league run is the worry. Since a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on 11 October they’ve lost 5-0 at Brighton, 2-0 to Newcastle and 2-0 at Spurs. The 1-0 Carabao Cup win at Fulham on 28 October is their only clean sheet in that spell.
Ismaïla Sarr is out until after the international break with a groin problem, and Palace have lost five of the eight games he’s missed. Tomiyasu is also out with a calf injury. Strand Larsen, who scored a penalty against Lech, has an ankle problem and Timber a hamstring issue; both missed the Spurs game.
Kamada has three league assists and scored in Lyon. Sage said after Saturday that he will “never give up”. Thursday is the obvious place to show it.
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Free for 2 weeks.
Hoffenheim: a win over Leverkusen, then six changes and a defeat in Bremen 
Hoffenheim’s week went from their best result of the season to two defeats. They beat Leverkusen 3-0 on 25 October, went out of the DFB-Pokal on penalties at Holstein Kiel after a 1-1 draw, then lost 2-0 at Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Christian Ilzer made six changes in Bremen. Füllkrug scored on 57 minutes and Dinkçi added the second on 82, and it was Bremen’s first win over Hoffenheim since 2014.
They’re 11th in the Bundesliga with nine points from eight games: three wins and five defeats. All seven of their league games before Bremen went over 2.5 goals, and they haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home in their last ten Bundesliga games.
Their European results follow the same pattern. They lost 2-0 in Crete in September, lost 3-2 at home to Beşiktaş after Oh Hyeon-gyu scored twice, then beat Lyon 3-0 with goals from Kramarić, Daghim and Hložek. Kramarić is 35 and was involved in all three goals against Lyon.
The squad is thin. Gendrey has a broken fibula, Conté is out with a groin problem, and Lemperle, Hajdari, De Cat and Wimmer are all unavailable. Coufal is a doubt with a thigh injury. Bazoumana Touré left for Newcastle in the summer for a club-record fee of around €50m.
Probable lineup Crystal Palace: Not announced at time of publication
Probable lineup Hoffenheim: Not announced at time of publication
Free Football Prediction: Crystal Palace vs Hoffenheim
Our prediction: Crystal Palace to win (1.85)
Palace’s league form makes this look like a risk, and it is one. They haven’t scored in three Premier League games and lost Mateta to a red card on Saturday. In Europe, though, they’ve scored in every game, and Mateta is available on Thursday.
Hoffenheim’s away record is the reason I’m siding with the hosts. Ten Bundesliga away games without a clean sheet, a 2-0 defeat in Crete, and a defence missing Gendrey and Conté. Pino has found a way past every European defence he’s faced this season.
The draw is priced at 3.60 and Hoffenheim at the same number. At 1.85, I’ll back Selhurst Park and the Europa League version of this team.
in your pocket.
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