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Crystal Palace welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to Selhurst Park on Thursday evening, 7 May 2026, with a place in the next round of the UEFA Conference League on the line. Oliver Glasner’s side go into the second leg with real control after a 3-1 win in Ukraine, and that gives them a strong platform in front of their own crowd. Shakhtar still have work to do, but they’re not dead yet. One early goal changes everything.
For Palace, this is about finishing the job and keeping their European run alive. They’ve already shown they can hurt Shakhtar in transition and in the final third, and now they get the return fixture at home where the pace and energy should suit them. Shakhtar, managed by Arda Turan, need a brave performance and probably a sharper one than they produced in the first leg. Knockout football can flip quickly. Still, they’ve got a mountain to climb.
There’s a bit of domestic baggage on both sides too. Palace were thumped 3-0 by Bournemouth on Sunday, 3 May, while Shakhtar were busy beating Dynamo Kyiv 2-1 away on the same day. That’s the rhythm of these spring ties: one team trying to reset after a poor league result, the other trying to carry momentum into a big European night. Palace have the better position. Shakhtar need the stronger response.
Palace’s recent form has been a proper rollercoaster, and not always the enjoyable kind. They began with a 2-1 home win over Newcastle United on 12 April, a result that gave them some lift, but the next European outing away to Fiorentina ended in a 2-1 defeat on 16 April. The home draw with West Ham United on 20 April was flat rather than disastrous, and then they went to Liverpool on 25 April and lost 3-1 in a game that stretched them badly. A 3-1 win away to Shakhtar on 30 April looked like the sort of European statement they needed — only for Bournemouth to hit them 3-0 on Sunday and drag them back down again.
That’s the story of Palace right now: capable of sharp bursts, but still too easy to shake. They’ve scored in enough games to look dangerous, and that away win in Ukraine was no fluke. But the defensive end has been messy, especially when they’re asked to deal with sustained pressure or quick changes of tempo. One clean sheet in the last six would be nice. They don’t have one. And that matters.
At Selhurst Park, though, Palace have generally looked more solid. Their home record this season is one win and one draw from their listed league matches at the ground, with three goals scored and one conceded. That’s not a huge sample, but it does show a side that’s harder to push around on familiar turf. Oliver Glasner will expect them to start on the front foot, and the xG projection of 2.0 for Palace fits that idea. They should get chances. The question is whether they stay switched on when Shakhtar inevitably have a spell.
Shakhtar’s recent run is better than Palace’s on paper, but it comes with a catch. Their sequence has been built largely on strong domestic away wins and a few tight performances, yet the first leg exposed a weakness they can’t ignore: they don’t look comfortable when the opposition can play through them quickly. After the 2-2 draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Conference League on 16 April, they beat Polissya Zhytomyr 1-0 at home on 20 April, then won away to Zoria Luhansk 2-1 on 23 April and at Kudrivka 3-1 on 26 April. That looked like a team finding rhythm. Then Palace arrived and cut them open.
The 1-3 home loss on 30 April was a nasty setback because it came with a sense that Shakhtar were second best in the key moments. They recovered by going to Dynamo Kyiv on 3 May and winning 2-1, which tells you they’ve still got fight in them. That was a good response, no doubt. But the European picture is different now. They need to chase a tie against a side that already knows how to punish them. That’s a rough ask.
Away from home, Shakhtar’s numbers are decent and their mood has often been positive. They’ve been scoring regularly, and their run of games has rarely been dull. The concern is simpler than that: they haven’t kept the door shut often enough. They’re now on four straight matches without a clean sheet, and Palace will fancy their chances of landing another blow. The xG projection gives Shakhtar just 0.8, which feels about right if Palace control territory and deny them easy access to the final third.
There’s only one previous meeting in the data, but it’s already done enough to shape the mood around this tie. Palace beat Shakhtar 3-1 in Donetsk on Thursday, 30 April 2026, and that result wasn’t just useful — it was convincing. Glasner’s side handled the away leg with authority, which is why they arrive back home with such a strong advantage.
That first meeting also told a story about match-ups. Palace found room, they took their chances, and they didn’t let Shakhtar settle. That won’t be forgotten by either dugout. Shakhtar need a different game entirely if they’re to turn this around.
We’re backing Crystal Palace to win at 8/15 for this second leg. If you want more detail on accumulator betting, our accumulator betting guide breaks down accumulator betting including how to build combos without padding the slip. It’s a short price, sure, but it’s also the right side of the line. Palace already proved they can beat Shakhtar in this tie, and the return fixture is now on their turf, where their home record is sturdier than their recent overall form suggests. Shakhtar have been competitive in patches, yet they’ve also been open at the back and haven’t kept a clean sheet in four. That leaves them vulnerable if Palace start quickly.
A 2-1 home win feels the most natural scoreline. Palace should have enough attacking quality to score again, while Shakhtar’s need to push forward almost guarantees they’ll create at least a few moments of danger. Mind you, if Palace nick an early goal, the tie could get away from the visitors fast. The alternative angle is over 2.5 goals, but the straight home win is the cleaner call here.
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