Two different Palaces, and the Europe one has shown up so far

There have been two Crystal Palaces this season. The league one has been patchy: losses at Everton (2-0) and Manchester City (4-1), a 0-0 at Leeds, and 12th on the table with seven points from six games. The Europe one opened with a 4-0 win over Lech Poznan, and the side that came from behind to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 on the weekend looked a lot more like that version.

Lyon arrive in a slightly different spot. They opened their Europa League campaign with a 2-1 win at Anderlecht and had a five-game unbeaten run going before it ended with a 2-1 loss at Lens last weekend. Winning in Brussels is no small thing, so nobody should pretend this is an easy trip.

So the story is simple enough: a Palace side that seems to save its best for Thursday nights, against a Lyon side coming off a loss. It's worth staying up for at 3:45am AEDT.

The price

Honest bit: the market got here first. Palace were 3.22 at the best price a day ago and have shortened to 2.69, while Lyon drifted from 2.29 to 2.61. The median has them almost level, Lyon 2.52 and Palace 2.63, so Palace are the second favourite by a whisker. The value from yesterday has mostly gone, but the gap to the favourite is small, which is usually where I like the second favourite.

Verdict

Palace at 2.69, a small lean on the Europe version of this side turning up again.