Crystal Palace travel to Lyon this evening for a Europa League clash that will be particularly special for manager Pierre Sage.

The Frenchman returns to the Groupama Stadium for the first time as Palace boss, having previously managed Lyon between November 2023 and January 2025.

Sage helped turn Lyon’s fortunes around during his time in charge before being dismissed by John Textor, and he will now be hoping to get one over on his former employers.

Palace have enjoyed an encouraging run of form in recent weeks, winning four of their last six matches in all competitions.

The Eagles thrashed Lech Poznan 4-0 in their opening Europa League fixture before coming from behind to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 in the Premier League on Sunday.

Lyon also made a winning start to their European campaign, beating Anderlecht 2-1 away from home despite manager Paulo Fonseca making eight changes to his starting XI.

Both teams will be looking to make it two wins from two in the league phase, although Palace have struggled on their travels recently, winning just one of their last eight away matches.

101GreatGoals brings you all the team news ahead of the 5.45pm kick-off.

Lyon team news

Lyon: Greif, Athekame, Bacher, Kluivert, Abner Vinicius, Tolisso, Morton, Nartey, Nuamah, Nakamura

Lyon Substitutes: Bengui, Descamps, Bidstrup, Tessmann, Sulc, Niakhate, Mata, Duranville, Boudache, Kango, Himbert, Kamara

Crystal Palace team news

Crystal Palace: Benitez, Mingueza, Richards, Disasi, Canvot, Mitchell, Timber, Wharton, Sarr, Pino, Strand Larsen

Crystal Palace Substitutes: Matthews, Benetton, Ahanor, Khalaili, McNeil, Hughes, Benamar, Kamada, Osorio, Nketiah

Europa League Table

1	Juventus	1	1	0	0	5	0	5	3	W
2	Crystal Palace	1	1	0	0	4	0	4	3	W
3	Sparta Praha	1	1	0	0	4	1	3	3	W
4	Beşiktaş	1	1	0	0	4	1	3	3	W
5	Union St. Gilloise	1	1	0	0	3	0	3	3	W
6	Ferencvarosi TC	1	1	0	0	3	1	2	3	W
7	Benfica	1	1	0	0	2	0	2	3	W
8	Bayer Leverkusen	1	1	0	0	2	0	2	3	W
9	OFI	1	1	0	0	2	0	2	3	W
10	Bournemouth	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	3	W
11	Lyon	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	3	W
12	Torreense	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	3	W
13	Olympiakos Piraeus	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	3	W
14	Red Bull Salzburg	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	3	W
15	Sunderland	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	3	W
16	Omonia Nicosia	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	3	W
17	Sturm Graz	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	D
18	Rennes	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	D
19	Dinamo Zagreb	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	D
20	Hapoel Beer Sheva	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	D
21	Jagiellonia	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0	L
22	Real Sociedad	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0	L
23	Anderlecht	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0	L
24	Lillestrom	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0	L
25	Celta Vigo	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	L
26	AZ Alkmaar	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	L
27	Levski Sofia	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	L
28	Celtic	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0	L
29	1899 Hoffenheim	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0	L
30	AC Milan	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0	L
31	Celje	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0	L
32	Marseille	1	0	0	1	1	4	-3	0	L
33	Ararat-Armenia	1	0	0	1	1	4	-3	0	L
34	Plzen	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0	L
35	Lech Poznan	1	0	0	1	0	4	-4	0	L
36	NEC Nijmegen	1	0	0	1	0	5	-5	0	L

• Position 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 : Promotion – Europa League (Play Offs: 1/8-finals)
• Position 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 : Promotion – Europa League (Play Offs: 1/16-finals)

Recent Form & Stats for Lyon v Crystal Palace

• Lyon won 2-1 at Anderlecht on matchday one, while Crystal Palace beat Lech Poznań 4-0 at home.
• Palace have won only one of their last eight away games in all competitions (D2 L5).
• Lyon have won only eight of their 27 previous meetings with English clubs (D10 L9).
• Pierre Sage managed Lyon from November 2023 to January 2025, and recorded one win, one draw and one defeat against them with Lens last season.
• Crystal Palace are the reigning Conference League champions after beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the final in May.
• This is the first competitive meeting between the two clubs.

Prediction for Lyon v Crystal Palace

Palace have the chance to record a memorable win against a French heavyweight. They will need to improve on their weekend performance but the opportunity is there…