Back of the Nest

From the heartbreak against City to the cold reality of Thursday night football: it's time to take care of business. We preview the final Conference League group stage clash against Finnish champions KuPS, where nothing less than a convincing win will do.

Patrick and Lou share their player ratings for the Man City defeat.

It's the hope that kills you. We break down a deceptively painful O-3 loss to Man City where the scoreline definitely lied. From Yeremy Pino and Adam Wharton rattling the woodwork to the inevitable Erling Haaland punishment, it was a classic case of "what if" at Selhurst Park.

Sitting fourth and fresh off another European win, Glasner’s Palace have absolutely nothing to fear. City might be scoring for fun, but they’re leaking goals at the back, and we know exactly how to exploit that. We beat them at Wembley in May; with the Selhurst roar behind us, there is no reason we can’t repeat the trick.

A textbook European away day for the Eagles! It was effectively men against boys in Dublin as Palace swept Shelbourne aside 3-0 with a dominant first-half display.

​Fresh off dominant back-to-back Premier League away wins, Glasner’s Eagles arrive in Dublin tonight ready to school the locals. While this is a historic "cup final" for Shelbourne, for Palace, it’s merely a stepping stone. The disparity is massive; Shelbourne are winless in Europe and rusty, having not played domestically for weeks. It’s a mismatch of Premier League quality against League of Ireland grit, and there should only be one winner. Expect a professional demolition job at Tallaght Stadium as we boost our goal difference and march comfortably toward the knockout stages. Three points are non-negotiable.

Lou and Patrick review the player ratings for the victory against Fulham.

What a thrilling, hard-fought victory for Palace! This team simply refuses to give up. Fulham's equaliser was a moment of quality, but it only served to fire up our boys.Adam Wharton ran the midfield, and Eddie Nketiah's opener was a beautifully taken goal. Then, in the 87th minute, who else but captain Marc Guéhi stepped up! A bullet header to seal the 2-1 win and launch us into the Top Four.