Crystal Palace – Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough will put up a fight against a Premier League opponent.

Crystal Palace two past seasons have been the most successful in history. The London club, which had never been among the top even in its own city, achieved outstanding results both on the national stage and in Europe. In the first case, in the penultimate season they managed to win the main cup competition and start the previous football year with a victory in the FA Cup final. In the second case Crystal Palace managed to reach the Conference League final and take home the trophy after the match with Rayo Vallecano. Unfortunately, for the fans of the "Glaziers" the club's owners stand in the way of their development. Crystal Palace's management, at the end of the past season, lost the architect of their successes - Oliver Glasner. The Austrian specialist could not come to terms with the fact that the club had sold virtually all of its leaders. Glasner, in the previous season, guided Crystal Palace to the first European trophy in their history and calmly moved to the more ambitious Nottingham Forest. Already after Glasner's departure, the "Glaziers" sold to Chelsea the France national team player Maxence Lacroix. That is, one should not expect changes in the club's strategy. And thus, the current Crystal Palace season could well end in the lower half of the table. Indeed, Manchester City and Everton confirmed this thought, fairly calmly beating the "Glaziers" in the opening rounds. Only in the third round did Crystal Palace manage to win, scoring one more goal than Fulham. Middlesbrough in the past season nearly made it to the Premier League. One of the most ambitious Championship clubs easily reached the playoffs, where, with some twists, they reached the final and were considered the favorites to face Hull City. Middlesbrough's sensational defeat shocked its fans. However, in the new season the team has adapted ahead of many other Championship favorites and is achieving good results. In seven official matches of the season, Boro have lost only to Blackburn, registering 22 shots on goal. On Saturday, Middlesbrough had already played in London, where they defeated QPR 1-0. The last meeting between the two sides in the English League Cup took place in 2018. At the Riverside, Middlesbrough won 1-0. Let's bet that the visitors will put in a decent performance.