In the first friendly of their pre-season trip to USA, Crystal Palace will meet Colombian outfit Millonarios in Illinois on Thursday.
Roy Hodgson's side make the trip with just over two weeks to go until their Premier League campaign kicks off, while their opponents recently began in the Categoria Primera A Clausura stage, after triumphing in the Apertura phase last month.
Match preview
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Crystal Palace head into the 2023-24 Premier League season back under the permanent charge of Roy Hodgson, after he returned to Selhurst Park in the final months of last campaign.
Following Patrick Vieira's March exit, and a 4-1 loss to Arsenal under the temporary stewardship of Patrick McCarthy, Hodgson returned to take charge with the Eagles on 27 points from 28 games, and he inspired a major turnaround in form, as they went on to win five of their last 10 games and amass 18 points to climb to an 11th-placed finish.
The season would finish with a 2-0 home triumph over AFC Bournemouth and back-to-back draws against Fulham and Nottingham Forest, and they returned to action early in July with a trip to Barnet for a friendly, eventually losing 1-0 before playing out a 2-2 draw with Brondby at their training ground.
The London outfit then met Crawley Town last Wednesday and scored a first win of pre-season, as Jean-Philippe Mateta hit a brace alongside goals from Eberechi Eze and Naouirou Ahamada in a 4-0 victory, before they most recently welcomed Championship outfit Watford to their training ground for a friendly on Saturday and came away with a 2-1 win, courtesy of a second-half brace from Odsonne Edouard.
With their preparations now further ramping up, ahead of their Premier League curtain-raiser away at Sheffield United in August, and with Hodgson having committed his future to the club, Crystal Palace will aim to build more confidence in their trip, starting on Thursday before meeting Sevilla and returning to London to host Lyon.
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They meet a Millonarios side who will be on a high from their domestic glory last month, having come out of the Apertura state of the Categoria Primera A season triumphant, after not securing top-flight gold in the previous six years.
El Ballet Azul initially finished second in the table with 38 points from their 20 matches, booking their place in group B of the semi-finals, which they would then top having won four of their six further outings, while only suffering a single defeat, seeing them pip America De Cali to the final place with 13 points on the board.
Between them and the title stood Atletico Nacional, and after a goalless draw away from home, Alberto Gamero's side came from behind to draw 1-1 in their home leg through Andres Llinas, with the game eventually going to a penalty shootout which Millonarios triumphed in to bring the Apertura trophy back to Bogota.
On the back of that glory, El Ballet Azul returned to league action for the Clausura stage in mid-July, and they began with a goalless draw away at Deportivo Pasto, before hosting Deportivo Pereira on Sunday and again coming away with a point as neither side managed to break the deadlock.
Still yet to score their first goal of the new stage, while being keen to follow up the recent triumph with another solid display, Gamero's team will travel to Illinois with the aim of scoring a victory over Premier League opposition before returning to Colombia for a trip to Alianza Petrolera on Sunday.
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Team News
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Crystal Palace head into pre-season and the new Premier League campaign without talismanic winger Wilfried Zaha, who has departed for Galatasaray following the expiry of his contract, with Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise set to play increasingly important roles in the attacking setup in his absence.
Luka Milivojevic and James McArthur have also left Selhurst Park over the summer, but Hodgson has bolstered his midfield ranks with the capture of Jefferson Lerma, and he should again start on Thursday, likely alongside Cheick Doucoure and Will Hughes.
Strikers Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Philippe Mateta have both opened their accounts for pre-season in previous friendlies, and will likely each be given a chance to lead the line with Hodgson potentially swapping at the interval.
Should Millonarios travel with a full-strength squad to meet Crystal Palace, their attack will be spearheaded by key man Leonardo Castro, who has notched up 10 goals alongside three assists in 26 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
They are newly without key winger Oscar Cortes, though, as he departed for Lens at the start of the Clausura campaign after the 19-year-old contributed five goals and two assists in nine Apertura appearances.
Daniel Giraldo is a mainstay in the engine room and may again partner Larry Vasquez, while Costa Rica international Juan Pablo Vargas plays an important role at the heart of a back four.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Hughes, Doucoure, Lerma; Eze, Edouard, Olise
Millonarios possible starting lineup:
Montero; Perlaza, Vargas, Moreno, Arias; Giraldo, Vasquez; Catano, Silva, Valencia; Castro
We say: Crystal Palace 3-0 Millonarios
Roy Hodgson will likely rotate his Crystal Palace squad heavily throughout Thursday's contest, and they should have more than enough quality to come out on top with plenty of players keen to impress in their pre-season tour.
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Sam Varley
