Crystal Palacevs.Brondby

Roy Hodgson's team were beaten 1-0 by the National League side during their opening summer friendly, while their continental counterparts recently drew 0-0 with Swansea City.

Match preview

Roy Hodgson's return to the Palace helm for the end of the 2022-23 season was originally expected to just be a stop-gap, but the veteran Englishman - still going strong at 75 - still has a yearning for management, and the Eagles saw fit to keep him at Selhurst Park for another year.

Hodgson oversaw just two defeats from 10 matches in charge as Palace ultimately secured Premier League safety with relative ease - even finishing one point above the hapless Chelsea - but their preparations for the 2023-24 season could certainly have started better.

Indeed, the Eagles succumbed to a terrific Courtney Senior strike from long range, but Hodgson will certainly not be losing any sleep over that loss at the Hive Stadium, where Palace were without a wealth of international players and fielded two separate XIs either side of the half-time whistle.

Following Saturday's showdown, Palace will stay relatively local to butt heads with Crawley Town and Watford before boarding a flight to the United States, where Colombian side Millonarios and Europa League holders Sevilla will pit their wits against Hodgson's crop.

Lyon will then pay a visit to Selhurst Park in the Eagles' final pre-season friendly on August 5 before Hodgson's men meet newly-promoted Sheffield United in their Premier League opener, as Hodgson hopes to vindicate the board's controversial decision to stick with the old rather than bring in the new.

Meanwhile, Brondby's bid for a third successive European qualification ended in failure last season, as Jesper Sorensen's side successfully qualified for the Danish Superliga Championship group but failed to force their way into the four continental places.

Inconsistency was the theme for Brondby, who won 12, lost 12 and drew eight of their top-flight affairs to labour to a fifth-placed finish - their lowest standing since the 2016-17 season - as they were made to pay for triumphing in just one of their final four encounters.

With no summer European qualifiers to concern themselves with, the 11-time Danish champions - who most recently clinched the Superliga crown in 2021 - have already taken to the field for two friendly matches this month, beating Hillerod 2-1 before a goalless stalemate with Swansea.

Sorensen's men will also tackle fellow Danish crop B 93 before commencing the 2023-24 Superliga season away to Silkeborg, and the absence of continental football will at least allow Sorensen to focus all his efforts on steering the Boys from Vestegnen back into their rightful European berth.

Palace and Brondby are not total strangers to one another, as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in the summer of 2020 thanks to strikes from Wilfried Zaha and Jesper Lindstrom, who has since made a name for himself with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Crystal Palace friendly form:

L

Brondby friendly form:

Team News

As mentioned, Palace made do without a host of national team representatives - who only returned to training on Monday - for Tuesday's loss to Barnet, but the likes of Eberechi Eze, Cheick Doucoure, Sam Johnstone, Jordan Ayew, Marc Guehi and new signing Jefferson Lerma may be considered for some minutes here.

James Tomkins has made a full recovery from the calf injury that kept him out of the final weeks of the season, but Michael Olise sustained a hamstring problem at the recent Under-21 European Championships with France and could now miss the start of the new season.

With Olise sidelined and free agent Wilfried Zaha still mulling over a renewal offer, 19-year-old Malcolm Ebiowei should strut his stuff out wide again, as Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Philippe Mateta vie to lead the line.

While Palace have made just one summer signing so far in the shape of Lerma, Brondby are yet to welcome any new faces into their ranks, only promoting academy pair Noah Nartey and Ludwig Vraa-Jensen from the Under-19s.

On the other hand, Tunisian midfielder Anis Slimane is reportedly on the verge of joining Premier League new boys Sheffield United, and he represents one of three senior internationals in the Brondby ranks alongside New Zealand midfielder Joe Bell and Denmark goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Former Valencia, Benfica and Atletico Madrid right-back Daniel Wass is also on the books at Brondby, while Hakon Evjen and Sebastian Sebulonsen may be given more time to recuperate from the Under-21 Euros exertions with Norway.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Matthews; Ward, Tomkins, Andersen, Mitchell; Hughes, Riedewald, Ahamada; Ebiowei, Edouard, Rak-Sakyi

Brondby possible starting lineup:

Aegidius; Lauritsen, Tshiembe, Alves; Radosevic; Wass, Cappis, Vallys, Riveros; Kvistgaarden, Omoijuanfo

We say: Crystal Palace 2-1 Brondby

With the prospect of a few international players returning to the fold for Saturday's game, Palace can rectify their midweek errors to return to winning ways against an unpredictable Brondby side.

The visitors should still threaten a depleted Eagles backline behind closed doors, but Palace's bright young starlets in the final third can capitalise on any defensive lapses.

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