Crystal Palace Seek First Points Against Fulham in Premier League

Crystal Palace head to Craven Cottage on Saturday still searching for their first win – and their first point – of the new Premier League season, with Pierre Sage already under pressure to steady a shaky start to his reign.

Two games, two defeats, six goals conceded. It has been a bruising introduction for the Frenchman. A 2–0 loss away to Everton set the tone, followed by a punishing 4–1 defeat at Selhurst Park against Manchester City that exposed Palace’s defensive frailties and lack of bite in attack.

The numbers are stark. Palace have shipped three goals per game so far, and their only strike of the campaign came via an opposition own goal. For a side built in recent years on resilience and counter-attacking threat, the blunt edge up front is as worrying as the leaks at the back.

Sage hit by injuries and absences

If the performances have been troubling, the team news offers little comfort. Sage’s options are stretched at precisely the moment he needs clarity.

Star striker Jean-Philippe Mateta is out for around three weeks with a hamstring injury, stripping Palace of their focal point in attack. Ismaïla Sarr is also unavailable, sidelined by a groin problem after his proposed move to Liverpool collapsed and he subsequently missed training.

At the back, long-term absentee Chadi Riad remains out with a serious knee injury, denying Sage another defensive option as he tries to plug the gaps that City so ruthlessly exploited.

This is not the platform any new manager wants when chasing a first result. Yet it may force the kind of bold decisions that can jolt a season into life.

New faces ready to step in

The lifeline for Sage comes from the club’s late transfer business. A cluster of new arrivals have already trained with the first team and are in line to feature at Fulham.

Ben Chilwell, Honest Ahanor, Quinten Timber and Darío Osorio are all available. Osorio, in particular, is strongly expected to see early minutes out wide, his direct running and creativity viewed as a key weapon to offset the loss of Mateta and Sarr.

Fresh legs, fresh ideas. Palace badly need both.

How Palace could line up

Sage is still searching for a formula, but the predicted XI offers a glimpse of his current thinking.

Possible Crystal Palace starting XI: Henderson; Canvot, Richards, Tomiyasu; Khalaili, Kamada, Wharton, Mitchell; McNeil, Larsen, Pino.

It’s a shape that leans on mobility and technical quality in midfield, with Kamada and Wharton tasked with knitting play together and providing some control that has so far been missing. Out wide and up front, McNeil, Larsen and Pino carry the burden of turning territory into goals – something Palace have conspicuously failed to do in their opening fixtures.

Kick-off and coverage

The game at Craven Cottage kicks off at 3pm BST on Saturday, 5 September. Due to the 3pm blackout rule in the UK, the match will not be televised domestically.

So Palace travel to west London under the radar, without the cameras but with plenty on the line. Two defeats have already framed the narrative around Sage’s start.

What happens at Fulham will tell plenty about how quickly he can rewrite it.