Preview: Crystal Palace vs Millwall - prediction, team news, lineups

Crystal Palace and Millwall kick-start their preparations for the 2025-26 season with a pre-season friendly on Saturday lunchtime.

This contest will be played behind closed doors, but both clubs will be streaming the match for supporters to watch on their respective websites.

Match preview

Crystal Palace fans are still basking in the glory of their historic FA Cup triumph at the end of May when they lifted their first ever major domestic trophy in their 120-year professional history after beating Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.

However, the Eagles have been left disappointed by UEFA's decision to demote them from the Europa League to the Conference League for breaching the governing body’s rules on multi-club ownership, a decision made just days after a successful appeal from Lyon - co-owned by outgoing Palace investor John Textor - against their relegation from Ligue 1.

It is understood that Palace will lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with Oliver Glasner's side still uncertain as to which combination of competitions they will be playing in when the 2025-26 campaign begins next month.

Amidst this uncertainty, Palace have found it difficult to plan for the new season and are in danger of losing some of their star players this summer, with the likes of Eberechi Eze and captain Marc Guehi attracting interest from top Premier League clubs.

Nevertheless, Glasner wants to experience a productive pre-season camp as Palace aim to improve on their 12th-placed finish in the Premier League last season. The Eagles, who began pre-season training earlier this week, will follow up their friendly against Millwall with a trip to Crawley Town, before heading to Austria to face Bundesliga duo Mainz 05 and Augsburg.

Millwall are preparing for their first full season under head coach Alex Neil - who was appointed at the end of last year - and their ninth consecutive campaign in the Championship after narrowly missing out on a playoff spot in 2024-25.

Neil replaced Neil Harris and steered Millwall from 13th to eighth in the second-tier standings, winning 11 of his 23 league games as the Lions finished just two points behind sixth spot - they ultimately paid the price for losing 3-1 to promoted Burnley on the final day of the season.

Millwall decided to hand Neil a contract extension at the beginning of June and the 44-year-old Scotsman has set his sights on a sustained promotion challenge in 2025-26, insisting that it is “a really exciting time to be a Millwall fan” as the club ‘plan and hope to take that next step’.

Ahead of the new campaign, Millwall have added highly-rated forward Josh Coburn and goalkeeper Max Crocombe to their squad, but experienced trio Shaun Hutchinson, George Saville and Murray Wallace - who made over 240 appearances combined at The Den - have left the club along with Duncan Watmore and George Honeyman.

Millwall began pre-season training on June 26 and are now gearing up for their first friendly of the summer against a Crystal Palace side who beat the Lions 3-1 at Selhurst Park in the fifth round of the FA Cup in March en route to winning the competition.

Team News

Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards is not expected to feature and is set to be granted additional time off after representing USA at the Gold Cup and scoring in their 2-1 defeat to Mexico in the final last Monday.

Glasner is expected to give several members of his squad minutes as they bid to build up their fitness, with new signing Walter Benitez in contention to make his debut between the sticks. Borna Sosa, meanwhile, was unveiled as the club's latest arrival on Friday and it remains to be seen whether the left-back will be involved.

While Chadi Riad remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury, it remains to be seen whether the likes of Eze and Guehi will be involved amid transfer speculation, while other players including Jean-Philippe Mateta, Adam Wharton, Daniel Munoz and Romain Esse - a January signing from Millwall -  could all feature in some capacity.

As for Millwall, goalkeeper Lukas Jensen ruptured his Achilles in April and is sidelined for an indefinite period, but new recruits former loanee Coburn and Crocombe are in contention to make their first appearances for the club this weekend.

Striker Mihailo Ivanovic - who scored a team-high 12 Championship goals last season - and defender Japhet Tanganga have both been linked with possible exits this summer, but the Lions duo have taken part in pre-season training and should be available for selection.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Benitez; Clyne, Lacroix, Guehi; Esse, Lerma, Hughes, Mitchell; Franca, Devenny; Nketiah

Millwall possible starting lineup:

Crocombe; Leonard, Tanganga, Cooper, Bryan; De Norre, Kelly; Neghli, Cundle, Azeez; Coburn

We say: Crystal Palace 3-1 Millwall

Both teams will be keen to make a positive start to their pre-season campaigns, but if Crystal Palace are to field a relatively strong lineup, then they should have enough to get the better of Millwall.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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