Form and Line-up of Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace modestly played out their Premier League season, failing to win in their final seven league matches. In truth, little was expected from the home side in the league – all the attention was focused on the Conference League, where the team made very few mistakes. Across the two semi-final meetings with Shakhtar (5:2 on aggregate), the team coached by Glasner allowed a total of seven shots on target and 2.19 xGA – a very modest figure against such a talented and technically gifted attacking unit.
Key numbers for Crystal Palace:
The team have not conceded more than one goal in any Conference League knockout match (and kept two clean sheets).
Since the beginning of May, Crystal Palace have suffered two goalless defeats in six matches.
Premier League matches involving the team coached by Glasner have averaged 2.4 goals. Under 2.5 goals has landed 17 times.
Probable Crystal Palace line-up (3-4-3): Dean Henderson — Jaydee Canvot, Maxence Lacroix, Chadi Riad — Tyrick Mitchell, Daichi Kamada, Adam Wharton, Daniel Munoz — Yeremy Pino, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ismaila Sarr.
Absentees: Eddie Nketiah, Chris Richards, Cheick Doucoure (all – injury).
Form and Line-up of Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano went into the final matches of the domestic championship with a completely different mindset. The team were in danger of relegation from La Liga, so they produced a powerful late surge – they eventually finished eight points clear of the drop zone and ended up just one point short of seventh place, which sent Getafe into the Conference League. The visitors have not lost since 16 April; during this nine-game stretch they kept five clean sheets.
Key numbers for Rayo Vallecano:
The team coached by Perez conceded only two goals across four away matches in May.
Rayo Vallecano are by some distance the worst finishing side in La Liga. They have underperformed their expected goals by almost 19, scoring 41 times from 59.98 xG.
Matches involving Rayo Vallecano saw Under 2.5 goals land in 24 La Liga games – only Getafe managed that more often (28).
Probable Rayo Vallecano line-up (4-2-3-1): Augusto Batalla — Pep Chavarria, Pathe Ciss, Florian Lejeune, Andrei Ratiu — Oscar Valentin, Unai Lopez — Alfonso Espino, Pedro Diaz, Jorge de Frutos — Alemao.
Absentees: Luiz Felipe, Ilias Akhomach (both – injury).
