2017–18 Crystal Palace F.C. season

Crystal Palace started the season with the newly appointed Frank de Boer as manager,[4] following the close season resignation of Sam Allardyce. A number of players were released at the end of their contracts, including first-team players Fraizer Campbell, Mathieu Flamini and Joe Ledley. Steve Mandanda was sold back to Marseille after a single season with the club. Early July saw the arrival of Jaïro Riedewald on a permanent transfer from Ajax and Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan from Chelsea. As a warm-up to the season, the team took part in the Asia Trophy in Hong Kong (where they won one game and lost one), and had friendlies against Metz and Schalke 04, both of which were drawn. A week before the season started, Timothy Fosu-Mensah was loaned in from Manchester United.

Crystal Palace opened the Premier League season at home to newly promoted Huddersfield Town, a game they lost 0–3. An away defeat to Liverpool and another home defeat, to Swansea City, saw pressure grow on Frank de Boer. The first win of the season came against Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup. Transfer deadline-day saw the arrival of Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool, following a successful spell on loan at the end of the previous season.

Following a fourth consecutive league defeat to Burnley, and with the team still goalless in the competition, Palace sacked De Boer on 11 September,[1] replacing him the next day with former England manager Roy Hodgson.[2] The poor run of league form continued with another three defeats, to Southampton, Manchester City and Manchester United. The second round of the Carabao Cup saw the team exact revenge for their opening day defeat by beating Huddersfield Town. By the end of the month, Crystal Palace were four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table, with seven defeats and no goals scored.

After an international break at the start of the month, Crystal Palace finally won a game: defeating the reigning Premier League champions, Chelsea, at home by a score of 2–1. Palace took an early lead through an own-goal with Chelsea equalising soon after. Wilfried Zaha scored the winning goal on the stroke of half-time. The third round of the Carabao Cup saw Palace travel to play Championship team Bristol City. Despite opening the scoring, they ended up on the wrong end of a 4–1 defeat. The month finished with another away defeat, this time to Newcastle, and a 2–2 home draw with West Ham, with Zaha scoring an equaliser seven minutes into injury time at the end of the game.

An away defeat to Spurs started the month, but the turnaround in home form continued with a 2–2 draw with Everton and a 2–1 victory over Stoke. On 28 November, Crystal Palace travelled away to play rivals Brighton & Hove Albion, returning with their first away point of the season after a 0–0 draw. The match saw a significant number of Palace fans locked-out following allegations of crowd disturbances.[5] The local police reported a number of weapons were recovered at the match, a claim they later admitted was false.[6]

A second successive goalless away draw against West Bromwich Albion saw Crystal Palace move off the foot of the table for the first time in 11 games, though they returned there after another 2–2 home draw with AFC Bournemouth. During injury time at the end of this match, Palace were awarded a penalty. Despite Luka Milivojević scoring a penalty earlier in the match, striker Christian Benteke insisted on taking it and his weak effort was saved, leading to criticism from his manager and the press.[7] A home match with Watford saw Palace's habit of scoring late goals continue, with Bakary Sako and James McArthur scoring goals in the 89th and 91st minutes respectively to overcome a third-minute goal by their opponents. The next match was far less stressful: Palace were comfortable 3–0 winners over Leicester City, the match marking both the first away goals and the first away win of the league campaign, and moved the team up to 14th in the table. A further away point was gained with a draw at Swansea, which extended an unbeaten streak to eight matches, Palace's best ever in the Premier League. This run came to an end with a 2–3 home defeat to Arsenal before the year finished with a hard-fought scoreless draw with Manchester City. This match marked the end of City's 18-match winning streak in the Premier League, but saw season-ending injuries to both Scott Dann and Jason Puncheon and a late penalty miss by Luka Milivojević.

The first game of the New Year saw Crystal Palace chalk-up their second away win of the season, against Southampton, with goals from James McArthur and Luka Milivojević overcoming an early goal from Shane Long for the hosts. In the third round of the FA Cup, Palace lost 2–1 to rivals Brighton, with former Eagle Glenn Murray scoring a late winner. Back in the league, the good run continued, with Bakary Sako scoring the only goal in the first half of the home game against Burnley. The next game saw an awful start by Palace, finding themselves four goals down within the first quarter of the away match against Arsenal. They staged a minor recovery, scoring the only goal in the second half to lose 4–1. Another local away match, this time against West Ham, ended in a 1–1 draw, with Christian Benteke scoring his second goal of the season to open the scoring before a penalty from Mark Noble evened the score just before half-time. During the transfer window, Crystal Palace bolstered their ranks with Polish defender Jarosław Jach and Norwegian striker Alexander Sørloth as permanent transfers and Swedish midfielder Erdal Rakip a loan-signing from Benfica. Squad-members Keshi Anderson and Freddie Ladapo left the club with Andre Coker and Sullay Kaikai loaned out.

  Win   Draw   Loss

Crystal Palace v Huddersfield Town

12 August 2017 (2017-08-12) 1	Crystal Palace	0–3	Huddersfield Town	Selhurst
15:00 BST	Puncheon  88'	Report	Ward 23' (o.g.) Mounié 26', 78',  73' Smith  28' Palmer  60'	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 25,448 Referee: Jon Moss

Burnley v Crystal Palace

10 September 2017 (2017-09-10) 4	Burnley	1–0	Crystal Palace	Burnley
13:30 BST	Wood 3' Brady  34'	Report	Benteke  75'	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 18,862 Referee: Michael Oliver

Crystal Palace v Chelsea

14 October 2017 8	Crystal Palace	2–1	Chelsea	Selhurst
15:00 BST	Azpilicueta 11' (o.g.) Zaha 45' Milivojević  71' Dann  83'	Report	Bakayoko 18',  87'	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 25,480 Referee: Andre Marriner

Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace

5 November 2017 (2017-11-05) 11	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	Crystal Palace	Wembley
12:00 GMT	Son 64'	Report	Townsend  45+2' Schlupp  56'	Stadium: Wembley Stadium Attendance: 65,270 Referee: Kevin Friend

Swansea City v Crystal Palace

23 December 2017 19	Swansea City	1–1	Crystal Palace	Swansea
15:00 GMT	J. Ayew 77'	Report	Milivojević 59' (pen.)	Stadium: Liberty Stadium Attendance: 20,354 Referee: Craig Pawson

Southampton v Crystal Palace

2 January 2018 (2018-01-02) 22	Southampton	1–2	Crystal Palace	Southampton
19:45 GMT	Long 17'	Report	Fosu-Mensah  57' McArthur 69' Milivojević 80'	Stadium: St Mary's Stadium Attendance: 28,411 Referee: Stuart Attwell

In the FA Cup, Crystal Palace entered the competition in the third round and were drawn away to Brighton & Hove Albion.[9]

Brighton & Hove Albion v Crystal Palace

8 January 2018 Third round	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–1	Crystal Palace	Falmer
19:45 GMT	Stephens 25' Murray 87'	Report	Sako 69'	Stadium: Falmer Stadium Attendance: 14,507 Referee: Andre Marriner

Crystal Palace entered the competition in the second round where they were drawn against Ipswich Town.[10] Another home tie was confirmed for the third round, against Huddersfield Town,[11] but in the fourth round Palace were drawn away against Bristol City.[12]

Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town

22 August 2017 Second round	Crystal Palace	2–1	Ipswich Town	Selhurst
19:30 BST	McArthur 76', 84'	Report	Downes  56' Celina 90+1'	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 9,837 Referee: Andy Davies

Bristol City v Crystal Palace

24 October 2017 (2017-10-24) Fourth round	Bristol City	4–1	Crystal Palace	Asthon Gate
19:45 BST	Taylor 32' Đurić 39' Bryan 60' O'Dowda 66'	Report	Sako 21'	Stadium: Ashton Gate Stadium Attendance: 21,901 Referee: Tim Robinson

Crystal Palace had five pre-season friendlies against Maidstone United,[13] Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion (2017 Premier League Asia Trophy),[14] Metz[15] and Schalke 04.[16]

Maidstone United v Crystal Palace

15 July 2017	Maidstone United	1–3	Crystal Palace	Maidstone
13:00 BST	Pigott 33'	Report	Mutch 15', 38' Berkeley 70'	Stadium: Gallagher Stadium

Liverpool v Crystal Palace

19 July 2017 Asia Trophy	Liverpool	2–0	Crystal Palace	So Kon Po, Hong Kong
20:30 HKT	Solanke 61' Grujić  68' Origi 79'	Report	Dann  42'	Stadium: Hong Kong Stadium Attendance: 39,273 Referee: Bobby Madley (England)

West Bromwich Albion v Crystal Palace

22 July 2017 Asia Trophy	West Bromwich Albion	0–2	Crystal Palace	So Kon Po, Hong Kong
19:00 HKT	Nyom  33' Yacob  50'	Report	Milivojević 11' Sako 43'	Stadium: Hong Kong Stadium Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Chiu-Kok Ng (Hong Kong)

Metz v Crystal Palace

29 July 2017	Metz	1–1	Crystal Palace	Metz, France
15:00 CET	Niane 79'	Report	Zaha 56'	Stadium: Stade Saint-Symphorien

Crystal Palace v Schalke 04

5 August 2017	Crystal Palace	1–1	Schalke 04	Selhurst
15:00 BST	Benteke 61'	Report	Insua 43'	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 12,683

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ARG Julián Speroni 2 DF  ENG Joel Ward 3 DF  NED Patrick van Aanholt 4 MF  SRB Luka Milivojević 5 DF  ENG James Tomkins 6 DF  ENG Scott Dann 7 MF  FRA Yohan Cabaye 8 MF  ENG Ruben Loftus-Cheek (on loan from Chelsea) 9 FW  NOR Alexander Sørloth 10 MF  ENG Andros Townsend 11 MF  CIV Wilfried Zaha 12 DF  FRA Mamadou Sakho 13 GK  WAL Wayne Hennessey 14 MF  KOR Lee Chung-yong 15 MF  GHA Jeffrey Schlupp 16 GK  BRA Diego Cavalieri 17 FW  BEL Christian Benteke

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  SCO James McArthur 21 FW  ENG Connor Wickham 23 DF  SEN Pape Souaré 24 DF  NED Timothy Fosu-Mensah (on loan from Manchester United) 26 MF  MLI Bakary Sako 27 DF  IRL Damien Delaney 28 MF  BEL Jason Lokilo 29 MF  ENG Aaron Wan-Bissaka 30 GK  ENG Dion-Curtis Henry 31 MF  SWE Erdal Rakip (on loan from Benfica) 32 FW  ENG Levi Lumeka 33 DF  POL Jarosław Jach 34 DF  ENG Martin Kelly 37 FW  ENG James Daly 42 MF  ENG Jason Puncheon (club captain) 44 DF  NED Jaïro Riedewald

As of 13 May 2018[17]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ARG	Julián Speroni	13	0	11	0	0	0	2	0
13	GK	WAL	Wayne Hennessey	29	0	27	0	1	0	1	0
Defenders
2	DF	ENG	Joel Ward	20	0	19	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF	NED	Patrick van Aanholt	32	5	25+3	5	1	0	3	0
5	DF	ENG	James Tomkins	30	3	27+1	3	0	0	2	0
6	DF	ENG	Scott Dann	18	1	16+1	1	0	0	1	0
12	DF	FRA	Mamadou Sakho	20	1	18+1	1	0	0	1	0
15	DF	GHA	Jeffrey Schlupp	27	0	21+3	0	1	0	2	0
23	DF	SEN	Pape Souaré	4	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	0+2	0
24	DF	NED	Timothy Fosu-Mensah	23	0	17+3	0	1	0	1+1	0
27	DF	IRL	Damien Delaney	4	0	1+1	0	1	0	0+1	0
29	MF	ENG	Aaron Wan-Bissaka	7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
34	DF	ENG	Martin Kelly	19	0	12+3	0	1	0	3	0
Midfielders
4	MF	SRB	Luka Milivojević	37	10	35+1	10	0	0	1	0
7	MF	FRA	Yohan Cabaye	34	0	28+3	0	1	0	1+1	0
8	MF	ENG	Ruben Loftus-Cheek	25	2	21+3	2	0	0	1	0
10	MF	ENG	Andros Townsend	39	2	35+1	2	1	0	1+1	0
11	MF	CIV	Wilfried Zaha	29	9	28+1	9	0	0	0	0
14	MF	KOR	Lee Chung-yong	10	0	1+6	0	0	0	2+1	0
18	MF	SCO	James McArthur	35	7	27+6	5	1	0	1	2
26	MF	MLI	Bakary Sako	19	6	4+12	3	1	1	2	2
28	MF	BEL	Jason Lokilo	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
42	MF	ENG	Jason Puncheon	12	0	6+4	0	0	0	2	0
44	MF	NED	Jaïro Riedewald	15	0	4+8	0	1	0	2	0
Forwards
9	FW	NOR	Alexander Sørloth	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
17	FW	BEL	Christian Benteke	31	3	24+7	3	0	0	0	0
32	FW	ENG	Levi Lumeka	2	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
Players out on loan
25	MF	ENG	Sullay Kaikai	4	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	2	0
Players transferred out during the season
19	FW	ENG	Freddie Ladapo	2	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0

As of 13 May 2018[17]

As of 5 May 2018[17][18]

No.	Pos.	Name	Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
4	MF	Luka Milivojević	8	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
5	DF	James Tomkins	8	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
3	DF	Patrick van Aanholt	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
7	MF	Yohan Cabaye	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
17	FW	Christian Benteke	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
42	MF	Jason Puncheon	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
11	MF	Wilfried Zaha	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
18	MF	James McArthur	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
6	DF	Scott Dann	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
2	DF	Joel Ward	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
15	MF	Jeffrey Schlupp	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
10	MF	Andros Townsend	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
24	DF	Timothy Fosu-Mensah	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
12	DF	Mamadou Sakho	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
34	DF	Martin Kelly	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
44	DF	Jaïro Riedewald	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
29	DF	Aaron Wan-Bissaka	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
13	GK	Wayne Hennessey	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
8	MF	Ruben Loftus-Cheek	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total			72	0	1	0	3	0	76	0